Mixed Memories
by Tsukiko Kaze
Summary: Shizuka Chi, or just Shizu, is an eleven year old girl entering the Hunter exam who forms an unexpected companionship with Gon and Killua. But will they find out about her strange and twisted past? More importantly, will she? Probably eventual Killlua/OC Rated T just to be safe.
1. And So It Begins

**Herro readers of the interwebs! So as a first note, my other fanfiction is kind of on hold. I haven't completely given up on it yet...but it's pretty likely not to see anything for a long while. I'm trying to rewrite that one, but I've been writer's blocked for a while :/. Second note is that I'm just posting this first chapter as a kind of sample to see if anyone would want to read it. *looks through other notes to say* Well I think that's it *tosses notes into the air* So let's get started right?  
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter, just my own OC~**

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Tension was thick in the air as fewer and fewer arrived to take the Hunter's Exam. The room, or large spacious hallway as Shizu had dubbed it, was already crowded with hundreds of people. _So a lot of people made it huh…_Shizu thought while ignoring other people's weird looks. A lot of people were weird in this room after all, but only one had a glaring black panther with them. Eventually, each went back to his own business and left Shizu and her panther, Rakku, to their corner. She thumbed her number plate again; 214. "Hello." Shizu looked up, face hidden behind her cloak. A short man with a stubby box nose stood before her with a fake grin plastered to his face as he reached out a hand in greeting. "You must be a rookie here right? My name's Tompa." Silence was his only answer. "Uh…Well if you need any help at all, you just need to ask! How about we have a drink to commemorate our new friendship?" Tompa began to pull out a can of juice from his bag but was stopped by a vicious growl from Rakku. Tompa began to sweat nervously as he backed away and ran off into the crowd. _What a coward…_

Several hours had passed and the final stragglers were passing through. As they were rookies, there goes Tompa flocking over to poison them and whatnot. Strangely, the youngest boy in the group took a gulp and immediately spit it out. The other two proceeded to dump their cans onto the ground. _Interesting…_Shizu couldn't hear their words and didn't bother trying, but could tell that Tompa was extremely shocked and visibly looked as if he was backing into a mental corner. Tompa was gesturing different people to the newly arrived trio to divert the topic, and Shizu turned away in boredom as she couldn't hear what was being said over the din of the rest of the people anyway. However, the huge ear piercing scream was easily audible. A man stood in shock and horror as he looked at his arms, or where they used to be anyway. A creepy clown stood over him shuffling a deck of cards casually, as if no strange thing had happened. He mouthed words that Shizu couldn't hear from so far away. _I _c_an't let my guard down here. _Shizu narrowed her eyes and scanned the room for other potential threats. As she was doing so, another high pitched sound intruded into everyone's conversations again. This time, it turned out to be a kind of bell that was shaped as a silly head with its tongue sticking out. These people sure have weird tastes.

Shizu turned to the source of the sound; on top of one of the huge pipes in the room. A mustached man wearing a suit held the annoying thing in his hand, and turned it off after making certain that he had all of their attention. "I am here now. The time for registration is over." His voice echoed across the now silent hallway. Shizu squinted at the man to ascertain an important fact. _He…doesn't have a mouth? How is he talking then, with his mustache?_ The man hopped off of the pipe and gestured down the seemingly endless path down the hall. "The exam can begin. Head this way please." He began to walk at a brisk pace with the examinees following close behind him. "Allow me to clarify shortly." He began to lecture. "This is an extremely difficult exam. Sometimes, you can miss your chance and end up injuring yourself, or simply die." He allowed his words to sink into the tense atmosphere before continuing. "There are times, like a little while ago, where you can be injured permanently. These are things that can't be avoided. Now please, follow me." He walked at a slightly faster pace now and glanced over the participants. "Count is ok. There are 404 participants for the first round of the exam." The mustache man began to walk noticeably faster, and many people turned their heads in confusion. Shizu narrowed her eyebrows and frowned as he forced all of the participants into a light jog.

"I forgot to mention one detail." The man called over the confusion. "My name is Satotz, and I am in charge of the first round. So, I must lead you to the place of the second round." Sharp intakes of breath and puzzled murmurs blended together.

One person, a ninja, asked "The second round? You mean that the first has…"

Satotz interjected the ninja's question. "The first test has already begun." Gasps of realization from those that were perplexed became the only sound heard besides the clatter of footsteps. "If you are able to follow me to where the second exam starts, you will have already passed the first. I can't tell you when or where we will arrive. You must be content with following me." The tense atmosphere amplified by a hundredfold. Shizu looked down at Rakku, who was running alongside her. Rakku slowed down just enough for Shizu to hop onto his back and establish a firm grip, then ran off at the same pace he was running before.

"Hey kid! That's not allowed!" A booming yell threatened to make Shizu go deaf. The yeller was very close by as well. Apparently, he was scolding a kid because he brought a skateboard. _That guy's one of that trio right?_ Shizu urged Rakku to move closer, which he did, albeit reluctantly. "You there!" The yeller pointed to Shizu and blasted the eardrums of everyone in a 20 meter radius. "That's cheating! Where did you even get a panther in the first place?!" He looked extremely angry and very easily irritated for an adult.

"Why?" The silver haired boy on the skateboard questioned. That one word seemed to irritate the adult even more.

"'Why?' Cause it's an endurance test!" The yeller had exceeded all yelling records at this point. Probably. Shizu was about to urge Rakku forward again when another voice intervened.

"That's not right! He just asked us to follow him, that's all!" A cheery, black haired boy with a fishing pole strapped on his back and unusual green clothing intervened with blunt honesty. _He was one of the yeller's companions right?_

"Gon! Whose side are you on!" He yelled again, contributing to the nickname the cloaked girl had given him. Gon's other blonde-haired companion entered the argument as well.

"You should save your energy, Leorio." The other reasoned calmly. "You're just being noisy right now. The principle is that there are no principles." Leorio simply fumed and steamed in anger, but remained silent anyway. He muttered things around the lines of 'Why are you on their side Kurapika…' and 'everyone's against me grrrrr….' The silver haired boy turned to Gon with curiosity.

"Tell me…How old are you?" He asked nonchalantly.

Gon answered the question with childlike enthusiasm. "I'm almost twelve!"

"Hmm…Just like me…" The other boy mused. He kicked the skateboard into his hand with flourish. "Finally, I'm also going to run." He turned to face Gon. "I'm Killua."

"I'm Gon!" Gon replied with a smile. "What about you?" He turned to face Shizu, who was still keeping up due to Rakku.

Shizu was taken aback and paused before answering. "…Shizu ,11 years old…" Gon gave her an amiable smile as well. Killua looked at Shizu curiously as if he had never noticed she was there before turning to Leorio.

"And you mister?" Killua asked Leorio. Mister Yeller returned after its short nap and began acting like his name suggested. Again.

"Oi! I'm not that old! I'm from the same generation as you!" Leorio yelled furiously at Killua. Time seemed to stand still for a brief moment as everyone processed the information. _Does not compute. Does. Not. Compute. _Leorio twitched uncomfortably under everyone's disbelieving stares.

Gon finally asked the question on everyone's mind. "Are you sure?!" Leorio screeched, almost like an enraged monkey.

"Argh! Gon, it's finished! I'm never talking to you again!" Leorio used blast everyone's ear drums out; it was super effective. Kurapika ran farther ahead to avoid being associated with Leorio, which was a pretty smart move. _So their names are….Leorio…Gon…Kurapika…and Killua…They seem like interesting_ people.

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**So? How was it? Was it too bad? Is there anything major that I need to fix? Should I continue? Is-*gets knocked out by Shizu*  
Shizu: Thanks for reading *smiles* Reviews are much appreciated and everything...**


	2. The Running Never Ends

**Hiya everyone! Here's another chapter for ya. Just two notes this time; I'm going to try to update this story every Saturday, and that one huge blurb of thought was me attempting to fill in space eheheh...Oh I forgot one, I'm changing the genre since my story doesn't have as much humor as other 'humor' stories. So, onwards to the chapter!  
Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own Hunter x Hunter. Just my OC ^^**

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Everyone was still running after Satotz even after four to five hours later. _If I was running, I wouldn't have made it half as far…_Shizu mused as her confidence dropped a smidge. Rakku was still keeping up without a problem though, so she squeezed his shoulder in thanks. Rakku understood and gave a soft purr in response. Looking back, Leorio was lagging behind and panting considerably. As Shizu was lingering near Gon and Killua, they were at the back of the pack of runners. Leorio eventually slowed to a walk, dropping his briefcase as if finally admitting defeat. "Leorio! Come on!" Gon called out to his friend. Killua looked disinterested but stayed behind anyway. Rakku slowed his pace to a walk, guessing what his human friend was thinking.

"Come on Gon. We're not having any fun here." Killua said in a bored voice. Leorio continued panting with his head down as if in acceptance of his loss.

"That's enough…" Leorio said uncharacteristically softly. Immediately following this statement, he burst into a heavy sprint while shouting, "I will do anything to become a hunter!" Thus, he again burst the eardrums of those in the immediate vicinity hopefully for the final time, but probably not.

"Um…" Shizu stared after Leorio's dust trail with a sweat drop. Gon smiled after the determined man. Using the fishing pole on his back, Gon hooked Leorio's forgotten suitcase and pulled it into his arms. _Impressive._

"Oh!" Killua exclaimed. "That was a pretty cool trick. Would you let me try it later?"

Gon thought only for a moment before replying, "Only if you let me try your skateboard!" Shizu smiled slightly at their exchange, but remained silent. Then she turned back to looking ahead of her and almost blew up with frustration. She did in her head of course; who wouldn't? A mass of stairs could be seen, draining the hope from a majority of the contestants.

"Rakku, are you going to be okay?" Shizu murmured into Rakku's ear. Rakku gave her an irritated glance as if saying; _don't you dare question my abilities again, got it?_ "Suit yourself." She turned from talking to the prideful panther and thinking about the people she had met. _Hmm…Leorio is definitely loud and kind of eccentric, but I guess that he is a very determined person who hates to give up. He _is _running without a shirt on at this point after all…_She glanced over at Leorio, sweat dropping again. _Kurapika seems more knowledgeable and reasonable, and also just as ambitious. Who _isn't _ambitious here though? Gon is pretty straightforward and really innocent and pure. Whatever he thinks, he says. He's a really amiable person and is really trusting towards people. That's both good and bad really…Killua though, is definitely more difficult to decipher. He seems to be kind of like Gon, but there's something darker about him. I don't know, but he seems to be…different somehow? Then again, they all are; that's what makes them unique. I'm over thinking things again aren't I…_After shaking herself out of her deep blurb of thought, she turned to look at the runners in front of her again…who weren't there. By this point, the three youngest participants had already reached the front of the group without a problem.

"Why do you want to be a Hunter Killua?" Gon questioned. _I probably missed most of the conversation from excessive thinking huh. Whoops…_

Killua shrugged. "I don't really want to be a Hunter…I've heard that the test was supposed to be very difficult, so I thought it'd be fun. But, I'm disappointed." He gave a bored sigh. "What about you, Gon?"

Gon looked wistfully in front of him, as if searching for a distant memory that refused to be found. "My father's a hunter!" He exclaimed. "I want to become a hunter like him!"

"What kind of hunter is your father?" Killua further questioned.

Gon answered back brightly, "I don't know!" Shizu and Killua both gave Gon strange looks.

"That's not ordinary!" Killua laughed. Even Shizu couldn't help but crack a grin around these two.

"You think so? My Aunt Mito took care of me, and I've only seen my father in photos. But some years ago, I met a man called Kaito, who taught me a lot of things about my father." Gon continued to recount what he had learned about his father, as Shizu began to space out again. _Family huh…I wonder if she's worried right now..._

"So Shizu, why do you want to become a hunter?" Gon's cheery voice snapped Shizu out of her thoughts. She looked baffled for a brief moment before masking her emotions again and pointing ahead of her. The exit shined brightly in the vast darkness of the tunnels. Shouts of 'Look!' and 'The exit!' echoed around the relieved runners. Sighs of relief were quickly replaced by mutters of confusion and groans of disappointment. It didn't look like the end of the running yet.

"The Numelle's Marsh, also known as the Crook's Nest." Satotz explained as soon as everyone had jogged out of the opening. "This is the place where the second round will be. You will have to go through here." He looked at all of us as if he expected someone to die on the spot. "The animals you find in the marsh eat humans for lunch. Follow me and pay close attention. Do not fall for any of their tricks. Losing your way will result in death." An eerie silence accompanied the tense atmosphere that the majority of the participants were exuding. The door to the entrance slammed shut, preventing anyone else from advancing any further.

"Hah! Now that we know, we can't be surprised now!" Leorio whispered with confidence. No sooner had he said that, when another voice boomed over the mutterings of the crowd.

"That's not true! He's lying to all of you!" A shaking, beaten man staggered out from behind the wall. "He's an imposter! He's not the real judge at all!" Here, the man pointed to the examiner. "Because the real judge is me!" More confused muttering broke out. _Come on…He's obviously lying…_Many others seemed to agree with Shizu as they all looked suspiciously at the so called 'judge'. Desperately, he shouted "Look at this then!" while pulling out a monkey that looked quite human. "It's a monkey man! One of the creatures that live in the Numelle's Marsh!" Confused looks had replaced some of the suspicious ones, while the examiner just looked coolly at the 'judge'. "The monkey men like fresh flesh. They have long, thin limbs, but overall they are weak…" Here is where Shizu tuned out the ramblings of the man and instead examined the marsh ground.

She hopped off of Rakku and tested the ground's firmness. _This is quite soft and probably more energy draining than when running on a flat surface…_Shizu pulled out her pouch that she had hidden under her cloak and pulled out two pairs of boot like objects. Killua gave her another curious look, but everyone else was too busy looking at the spectacle claiming to be an examiner to notice her. Rakku padded next to her and held out one paw at a time as Shizu fitted the boots onto him. _Good. Now it'll be easier for Rakku to run here. Although it looks like he didn't really need it…_Indeed, Rakku stood next to her lazily and yawned as if he hadn't run eighty kilometers without a break. "You oversized powerhouse…" She teased softly. Rakku growled softly in response with a look that said, _Oh really now, Miss I can't run this on my own so I ride on my panther who can._ Or was that too specific?

"His only objective is to get rid of the participants at one time!" The man shouted out, pulling a Leorio. As he finished his sentence, three playing cards flew into his face, cutting into it like butter. A low gasp escaped him as the blood spurted from his wounds. He fell forward, dead. Satotz was standing with four cards held in his hands. Evidently, someone attempted to do the same to him as well. People screamed and backed away from the creepy clown, who was shuffling cards and smiling to himself.

"I see, I see." The clown chuckled. Next to the dead man, the monkey man twitched and leapt away to avoid the same fate, but to no avail. More cards were flung, and they found their mark. Now the monkey that was playing dead really was dead. Exclamations of 'The monkey wasn't dead?!' and loud gasps were heard. _You'd think they were fishes out of water, they gasp so much…_Shizu sighed inwardly and turned to look at the center of attention, the creepy clown. "With this, it's all cleared. He really is the right judge." Satotz flicked the cards out of his hand, but said nothing. "In fact," He began to inform everybody. "Judges are hunters that do this freely at the jury's request. So a Hunter should be able to stop that kind of attack." Satotz finally spoke through the fear-induced silence.

"I will take that as a compliment. However, the next time you use such intervention with me, for whatever reason, you will be disqualified. Am I understood?" The clown simply nodded while still smiling his creepy smile. However, birds flying down toward the corpse of the fake judge drew the attention away. They began to peck at the flesh, feasting on the dead. "This is what will happen to the losers." Satotz informed everyone gravely. More and more birds began to flock and fight over the prey.

"It's the law of nature…There's no mercy." Leorio stated while watching the birds eat in disgust.

Satotz twirled his mustache in thought. "I am curious to know how many of you believed the imposter and were ready to follow him…You have to be vigilant. Survival here is a constant struggle." Many people shuffled, embarrassed to have fallen for the trick so easily, while the ninja and Leorio had an idiotic grin plastered on their faces.

"How many of us…? Are you saying that we were tricked?" Leorio laughed awkwardly while everyone around him ignored him.

"Well, let us be off to the second stage." Satotz began to run at the pace from before again. Shizu hopped back onto Rakku's back while others groaned as they began to pace themselves again. Gon, Killua, and Shizu ran together near the middle of the crowd without an effort as a slight haze began to set in.

"Let's go to the head." Killua suggested.

"Yep! We should keep an eye on the judge!" Gon replied. Shizu nodded in agreement, and they all began to run at a much faster rate past most of the participants.

"I just think that it's more important to get away from Hisoka." Killua said while the trio ran past everyone. Gon gave a confused look, while Shizu realized what he was implying. _Oh._ "He wants to kill somebody," Killua clarified darkly. "And he's becoming impatient." He looked behind him with a strange expression. "No doubt he'll use the fog." Gon and Shizu gave him weird looks until Killua realized how he was saying this. He laughed at their reactions. "You should've seen your faces! If I know it, it's because he and I are the same. I can feel it, if you prefer."

"The same? I couldn't tell…" Gon said, thinking out loud.

Killua turned back to the front while saying, "You shouldn't rely on appearances." Shizu narrowed her eyebrows. _Okay…he's definitely hiding something. Meh…it's not my business after all._

Gon turned around and shouted loudly, "Leorio! Kurapika! Killua says it's better to go to the front!" The runners behind us, barely visible in the fog all simultaneously sweat dropped. Shizu chuckled at all of their expressions.

A muffled shout answered Gon. "Imbecile! If we could go, we would have already gone!" _That was definitely Leorio yelling; who else could it be?_

"They don't seem to be so stressed." Killua said, sweat dropping himself.

"Yeah…" Shizu agreed. Killua looked at her with dramatic shock.

"You can talk!" He exclaimed.

"Oh shut up…" Shizu gave him a mock glare, but couldn't hide the small grin on her face.

"You'll be able to manage on your side, won't you?" Gon called again.

"Are you kidding…?" Leorio's voice became so muffled that it was hard to tell whether or not it was sarcasm. The fog was becoming extremely dense and larger in area. Barely anything was visible past one or two feet. So the screams that emanated from the shroud of white just then were extremely startling. Screams of 'Run!' and just plain 'Aaah!' resonated around eerily with the quiet thumps of people's footsteps. Shizu twitched, but steeled herself against the sounds. Gon looked back worriedly, obviously thinking about the two friends that were left behind.

"Gon!" There was no reaction, so Killua tried again. "Gon!" He finally snapped Gon out of his thoughts. "Don't do anything stupid! It's not the time to be worrying about them!"

"Right…" Gon said unconvincingly.

"Look! Even the guys just in front of us are barely visible. Take your eyes off of them for just one second, and it's all over! The best you can do is to pray you don't hear your friends' screams!" Killua said with extreme coldness. Screams still littered the air, chilling the words that he just said even more.

Minutes passed, and they did hear a friend's scream. It was Leorio, screeching in pain. Killua looked on without emotion while Shizu grimaced at the sound. Gon instantly reacted, bolting towards the sound calling out, "Leorio!"

"Gon!" Killua called after his friend.

"Gon…" Shizu looked behind her to see nothing but fog and the outline of a few trees.

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**So another chapter done! Hope you enjoyed!  
Thanks to...  
**

**AsherFateless, Ria Risa, RukaRukia, and for following  
Ria Risa and Ritz-Rocker3.5 for favoriting  
Thank you so much! ^^**


	3. Food: Who Would Have Guessed?

**Hello, and welcome back to another chapter :) Glad you've been reading this far (even though it's only number three). No notes this time too :D. So enough chatter and on with the story!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter; just my OCs**

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Silence ensued after the departure of Gon. Killua and Shizu remained lost in their own thoughts as the running took them deeper and deeper into the marsh. "Hey Shizu, you never did say why you wanted to be a Hunter did you?" Killua said, shattering the uncomfortable silence.

Shizu thought about the question and chose her words carefully. "I guess…I wanted to prove to myself that I could become a Hunter." The silence returned, but it soon began to even bother Shizu as well. The panting of everybody behind them was far from soothing, and the screeches of helpless victims to the marsh were just unnerving. It wasn't really silence, but it wasn't exactly filled with the best sounds either. Shizu hoped desperately that none were from Gon. "Umm…what do you think the next test will be?" She said to divert her thoughts from the chilling noises behind them.

Killua shrugged. "Who knows?" …silence 1, Shizu 0…

"And that's why my social calendar will forever remain spotless…" Shizu muttered under her breath. She sighed to emphasize her point to herself.

"Well I guess you can't help it that you're such an uninteresting person." _He heard me? What is he, a mutated bat?_ She looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and grudging respect. Killua smirked.

"I didn't know that old men had such good hearing." Shizu stated with a blank expression on her face.

"What did you call me?" Killua said incredulously.

Shizu smirked. "Oh, sorry, did I say that out loud?" Rakku gave a panther sigh at the immaturity of the two.

"How uncreative." Killua gave an exaggerated sigh. "I should've expected that out of a boring midget." Now it was Shizu's turn to fume. _I'm not _that_ short!_

"What. Did. You. Just. Say." Shizu glared daggers at the white haired boy, who was now arrogantly grinning. "I'm only a few inches shorter." She stressed the 'few' with an irritated growl.

"Oh, sorry, did I say that out loud?" He said, reusing Shizu's line.

"Didn't expect you to remember what I said, old man." The fuming girl retorted, emphasizing the last two words with a wry grin on her face.

"Didn't expect you to hear me from down there, midget." Killua countered.

"Old man."

"Midget."

They both glared at each other and then broke out laughing soon after. Looking ahead while still smiling, Shizu noticed a large clearing with a building in it. It seemed to be the end of the first test. Satotz slowed to a stop, as did Shizu and Killua. People were spilling in, exhausted and relieved. Shizu finally hopped off of Rakku and gave him a soft 'thank you'. Now that the cheeriness from before had worn off, she returned to worrying about her other friend. She turned to scan the crowd that was pouring in, hoping that Gon made it as well. As the last few people trickled in, there was still no sign of Gon and Kurapika. Hisoka had already come in carrying an unconscious Leorio, and laid him next to a tree. Satotz began to take his leave. "On that note, I wish you luck on the next part of your trials." _Where are they?_ The fog had already cleared up, but there was still no Gon or Kurapika. _Don't tell me that-_A flash of movement on the path had caught Shizu's eye. Killua had seen it as well, and they both exchanged relieved smiles. Gon and Kurapika came running in at the last minute and immediately looked through the crowd for someone. They rushed to the tree where Leorio was, with Killua and Shizu following after them.

"Why is everyone waiting outside the hanger?" Gon asked, looking at the crowd of restless participants. Killua walked up to Gon.

"We can't get in yet!" He answered.

"Killua! Shizu!" Gon called out joyfully. Shizu waved cheerfully at Gon in response. Rakku growled feeling quite left out. She pet Rakku on the head to ease his pouting.

"Yo!" Killua said. "You use some kind of special move, or what? I thought I'd never see you again!" As there was still time, Gon explained what happened when he had run off. The end result was once again Shizu and Killua giving Gon weird looks. "Thanks to his aftershave?!"

"Yeah…" Gon shifted uncomfortably under the curious stares of his two friends.

"You're no ordinary guy…" Killua finally said. Shizu simply nodded in agreement.

"Ah? You think so?" Gon said innocently. Changing the topic, he said, "So why can't we get in?"

Killua pointed to the sign above the door. "Look." It read **Next trial round will start today at noon**. "All we can hear are some weird groaning noises. All we can do is wait…" Luckily, there was also a clock for everyone to watch impatiently.

"It won't be long." Gon stated cheerfully.

"Yup." Killua agreed. Shizu again nodded. _There's only five minutes left…and the growling won't stop. I wonder what it is._ Shizu continued musing quietly. Killua poked Shizu on the head. "What happened to the talkative midget?" He taunted.

"And I thought that old men were supposed to be patient." Shizu glared irritably. "It looks like there are all kinds out there." Wiping away the annoyed look on her face, she continued to muse. "So what do you guys think is in there?"

"I don't know!" Gon proclaimed brightly.

"It looks like we're about to find out." Killua pointed out. Throughout all of the conversations, the clock had continued ticking down until there were only a few seconds left. A bell sounded as the minute hand hit the twelve. The doors creaked open slowly, causing the sound from within to crescendo. And inside was neither a monster nor a beast. It was a large man with an enormous stomach from where the growling sounds were coming from. Along with him was a woman that seemed much smaller in comparison with bright pink hair twisted up in multiple knots. The chattering stopped immediately.

"So, you hungry, Buhara?" The woman asked the large man.

Buhara rubbed his grumbling stomach as he said, "You bet, Menchi! I'm starving!" The rumblings of his stomach continued, further proving this statement.

"Therefore, the theme of the second trial will be…" The participants began to tense up in anticipation. "Cooking! We are both fine gourmet cooks! Thus your mission will be to satisfy our appetites by cooking us a meal!" Astonished expressions covered everybody's faces. It was evident that there were few who actually knew how to cook.

"Cooking?!" Someone exclaimed in the crowd.

"You'll start by cooking the plates I ask you for…" Buhara began to explain.

"Then, those who qualified will have to satisfy me!" Menchi continued. "You will qualify for the third round if you hear 'it's good'. The test will be over when we're no longer hungry." The participants continued to remain in a state of shock at the details of the test. _Looks like a lot of people will be eliminated._ Shizu sighed.

"For me, it will be…" Buhara started with a look of utter seriousness. "Roast pork! That's what I like best." His mouth began to drool a little at the thought of the food, and his eyes seemed to twinkle with anticipation. "I don't care what kind of pork it is, as long as you chase it in the Biska Woods." The entire group tensed for the start signal. "Okay…Let the second round begin!" Buhara shouted as the people rushed off in different directions of the woods.

Rakku began to tug Shizu toward the direction that Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio went. "I get the message Rakku…" She muttered to her impatient friend. The two ran off in that direction to find the herd of pigs going on a rampage. Finding two of the pigs that had separated from the herd, Shizu watched from the bushes to find any type of weak point. Seeing it, she leapt out of her hiding spot and drew the hidden dagger that she carried. She quickly hit the two on the forehead with the hilt and watched them fall onto the grass. There was already smoke forming in the air from the cooking of the pork. Shizu hurriedly joined them so as not to be left behind. The first pig, she cooked on a hastily made spit on a small but hot fire. The other, she gave to Rakku to eat, who did so happily. After the pig was fully cooked, Shizu joined in the stampede of people carrying large pigs over their head to where Buhara was. All of the participants shoved their pork at him in an attempt to be first. Buhara's mouth began to drool even more as he saw the feast laid out in front of him.

"Mmm, that's good!" "That too!" "Delicious!" "Succulent!" Buhara exclaimed. He said that for every pig that he had eaten. So, everyone who had given him pork in time had passed. However, even a large man like him had to be full eventually. "Man that was good! I'm full!" Buhara patted his stomach and gave a burp. Hearing that, Menchi ran over to a gong and rung it.

"It's over!" Menchi declared. Most people were looking, not at the examiners, but at the enormous pile of bones behind Buhara. The bones towered even over the huge man, which defied all logic. _No…freaking…way…He ate _seventy_ pigs. Seventy._

"Those Hunters are incredible people!" Gon exclaimed.

"I guess so…" Shizu responded. _Incredible…and kind of scary…_

"It doesn't make me want to be like him…" Killua said while sweat dropping.

"All you ate was good? This way it's not a test anymore!" Menchi was clearly dissatisfied.

"So what? We still eliminated a lot of participants! Anyway, we're not here to judge the taste today." Buhara countered.

"You're too nice!" Menchi was still not pleased with Buhara's test. "Remember that gourmet hunters must respect the sense of taste!" She sighed. "Alright…What's done is done." She rang the gong once more. "Roast pork test! 70 qualify for the next round!" Relief swamped those that passed. "I'm warning you, it won't be as easy with me! I'm very cautious when it comes to taste!" _They're doomed_.

"Second round, phase two. Here's my order…" She paused for dramatic effect. "I want sushi!" The general thought that passed through everyone's mind was, 'Sushi? What's that?!' People began to mutter in confusion. Looking around herself, Shizu could clearly see that no one had a clue as to what 'sushi' was. _Scratch that previous statement. We're _all_ doomed._ "You all seem bothered…But even if you've never seen them, you can still make them…It's a small island's traditional meal. I'll give you a hand! Look over here!" Counters of sinks, cutting boards, and supplies for cooking filled the entirety of the building. "You'll be cooking here! Everything is all set up. There's also the rice, essential in making sushi." Menchi further continued her information. "One last thing! I'll only accept handmade sushi!" She waited for her information to sink in before resuming her speech. "Alright! It's up to you now! You can make as many as you'd like, but don't forget that when I'm full, the trial is over!"

All of the participants walked over to inspect the tools, but still remained in a fog of confusion. Shizu walked over to one of the counters with Gon and Killua with Rakku padding beside her. She picked up a knife and inspected it. _It looks like it's extremely sharp. Perhaps for meat of some kind? With rice?_ "Do you think we only use rice?" Gon questioned. Killua was also examining the knives.

"Judging by the cooking ware, I doubt it." He poked at the edge of the blade.

Shizu set the knife back down onto the cutting board with another sigh. She turned to look at the other contestants, hoping for a type of clue. Everyone else was groaning with frustration. _Well that plan was a no go._ Shizu sweat dropped. Then she noticed the ninja laughing at everyone's attempts. Shizu wasn't the only one to notice, as everyone around him knew that the ninja knew something. _Ninjas come from a small island called Japan if I'm not mistaken._ _And since they're in close proximity to the ocean, then they probably primarily use seafood. And since we're using a type of meat, then it's got to be…_"Fish?!" Leorio shouted loudly. "Where can we find that in the middle of a forest?!"

Kurapika immediately scolded him. "Why don't you speak louder, moron! There must be pools or rivers around here!" Everyone immediately set out for any water sources in the forest. Shizu sighed again.

"Hey Rakku, you can wait here if you'd like." Shizu said to the panther. There was no need for her to say anything as Rakku was already curled up for a catnap. _He does love his naps after all…and he _was _running for about eight hours…_She ran off after everyone else in search of the underwater creature.

Shizu arrived at the edge of a lake that was lush with life. _Now how do I do this…Oh I've got it!_ She went over to one of the trees and searched for a sturdy, long vine. Eventually, she found one that was attached to a large tree. She took out her dagger and cut it loose, before tying it tightly onto the handle of the dagger. Tying the other end to a rock near the water, Shizu checked to see if the vine wasn't too loose. Nodding in satisfaction, she aimed her dagger at the water and watched. There was plenty of fish to choose from, so it wasn't difficult to hit one and pull it to shore. She looked at the others at her lake who were attempting to dive and catch fish with their bare hands and weren't succeeding.

Carrying the large sea creature, Shizu saw that a large amount of people had already returned back to the building. Now that step one was completed, they had resumed their confusion. She sighed and began to slice the fish into strips. "Eh? You know what to do?" Killua questioned with amazement. Shizu looked at him like he was an idiot.

"And I thought old men were supposed to be wise and all knowing or something." Killua twitched at the comment. Shizu continued with her slicing and began to chop it up into smaller pieces. "Well it's obvious we're supposed to cut it. We have knives for a reason. We can't just stuff a fish inside of rice and call it a meal can we?" Gon smiled at her sheepishly. _He didn't..._She sweat dropped again, but finished cutting her fish into small bite sized pieces. _Now what…_Shizu scooped up a glob of rice and put it on the board, but had no idea what to do with it. _It seems likely that this dish is smaller since she's using chopsticks to dip it into a small saucer. Um…stuff it into a ball of rice? I don't know…_Then, the answer had revealed itself.

"I believe it's my turn." The ninja proclaimed with pride as he handed over his dish to the fuming judge. "So? How about this?" At the very least, Menchi looked slightly appeased.

"Oh! Looks close enough to what I ordered." She took her chopsticks and ate it. "Let's see." She chewed carefully and then said her judgment. "Nope. Not good." The ninja seemed shocked, and began to yell in indignation.

"Huh? What?!" He began to pull a Leorio. "Rolled rice shaped to be eaten in one bite with a layer of raeford…all of this covered by a fine slice of raw fish meat! It isn't more complicated than that! And you, you're telling me that there are great differences in taste depending on the person who makes it?!" He then realized his mistake. "Oops! Damn!" The answer had revealed itself indeed.

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**And done! So I hope you enjoyed that chapter!  
Thanks to:**

** (I'm so sorry it didn't end up showing up in the 2nd chapter D:) and Latina shewolf for following!**

Seeya guys next week! :)


	4. Angry Menchi is Angry

**Hey again! Here's another update for you guys. Hope you enjoy :)  
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter**

* * *

At this point, most people were concentrated on either recreating what the foolish ninja had said, or watching the interesting scene taking place with Menchi. Menchi seemed to give off an aura of anger as she said in a dangerously soft tone, "You're saying it isn't more complicated than that?" She trembled with rage. "'Great difference in taste'?" Then she exploded on the unsuspecting shinobi. "Are you kidding?! It is said that to be able to make good sushi, it takes at least ten years of practice!" The ninja squeaked under her monster presence. "And you bunch of ignorant fools, even if you reproduce the sushi's form, you'll never be able to make good sushi!"

He had finally recovered his voice and said indignantly, "Then why do you ask us to?!"

Menchi picked him up by his scarf and growled. "Shut up, baldy, or I'll kill you! Got anything to say?!" She continued screaming at him, while the ninja paled with each word. By the time she had let the poor ninja go, he was as pale as Killua's hair. And that's saying something. "That's what you get for making me angry! I'm even hungrier now! Next!" Shizu raised her eyebrow but prepared her rice quickly, since everyone knew what to do; instead of a test of perception, it was one of speed and accuracy. However, she had been too distracted by the scene to realize that a huge crowd was already attempting to give Menchi their dish first. "I see!" She nodded in realization. "Because of Baldy, everybody found out how to make sushi! In that case, I can only judge on taste!"

About ten minutes later, Menchi had already tried several different versions of sushi. "Let's see." She chewed thoughtfully. "No! Too hard! The rice isn't soft enough!" The tested skulked off glumly, cursing.

Buhara sweat dropped. "Aren't you overdoing it?" He asked his eccentric partner.

"You shut up!" Apparently, Menchi's anger hadn't dwindled. Shizu sweat dropped and walked outside to relax with a sigh. _No one's going to pass at this rate…In fact, I doubt it. So no point in trying…_ She could still hear Menchi's judgments even while she walked to the lake from before. "The fish isn't cut the right way! I want pieces with straight angles!" or "The rice isn't the right shape! Make it flat or slightly bulky! Nothing different!" or "It isn't at the right temperature, and it's unpleasant for my palate!" or "As bad as the other!" or just plain "Bad!" That was only a few of the verdicts she gave. Shizu sighed and watched the tranquil water ebbing on the shore. When there was no more absurdly loud shouting, Shizu wandered back into the building only to find that the test was over. No one had passed.

Shizu stood next to an unusually silent Gon and Killua. Then again, who could talk when Menchi was yet again screaming at someone? _She couldn't be a clone of Leorio in disguise right?_ This time, it was via cell phone. "What do you want me to do about it?! That's the way it is!" A pause. "Out of the question! What's done is done, I'm not going back on my decision!" Buhara stared at her uncomfortably, as if he wanted to say something but knew it was a terrible idea. "What do you mean, I'm not respecting the rules we established?! I thought we agreed didn't we? If I say it's tasty, it's a qualification, and if I don't, it's a failure, so what?"

Buhara finally attempted to step into the conversation to aid the victim over the phone. "But our role was to make sure they respected the essential points, and…" Menchi cut him off with a roar.

"You shut up!" And so he did. And so she continued with her rant. "On top of that, we had a small incident. One of the contestants knew the recipe…and that bald moron was stupid enough to give it away to all the others, even if he didn't mean to…Anyways, I won't go back on my word!" She screamed some final choice words to the other person before hanging up. "Second phase of the second trial round, cooking trial…Qualified, zero!" Shizu rubbed her ears due to, hopefully, the final rant; from Menchi at least. There were only two reasons that she didn't tune this out like any of the other lectures. One, it was extremely difficult to do so. And two, it was just too amusing to ignore. On the other hand, the other participants didn't seem to think it was as interesting. Mutinous mutterings broke out about how unfair this was and how it shouldn't be allowed.

A fa-err corpulent man slammed one of the counters in frustration. "It won't stop here! If she thinks I'm going to go home saying, 'yes, of course'…" He clenched his fist and began to shout at the judge. "I came here not to become a gourmet, but a hunter!" Many in the crowd murmured their agreements. "A hunter from the black, I may add!" Shizu pawed at her ears, checking to see if she was going deaf or not. _Do all people here scream their lungs out to prove a point or something?_

Menchi acted surprisingly calm. "Too bad…" She ignored a "What?" from the person. "Tell yourself that you weren't lucky to be tested by us. Maybe you'll be luckier next year…" The 'corpulent' man repeated his "What?" and grew more and more angered by the second.

"Are you mocking me?!" He shouted as he charged straight for Menchi with his fist raised. As he was about to reach her, Buhara smacked him with so much force that he flew straight out the window and onto the grass outside with an audible thump. Shizu winced inwardly. _That looked like it _had _to hurt…a lot…_

"Buhara…" Menchi said the person in question with a deathly quiet whisper. "I don't recall asking for your help…" She revealed two extremely sharp looking knives from behind the couch she was resting on.

"Maybe…But if I didn't, you'd have killed him, wouldn't you?" Buhara said seriously.

Menchi relaxed slightly and began to twirl her blades carelessly. "Maybe…" She suddenly got up and stabbed the couch with one of her knives to prove a point. _Poor, poor couch…_ "Hunter of the black list? You're kidding right?" Then she continued to show off by juggling her knives plus two more that she seemed to have grabbed from nowhere. "Anyways, it's not by being beaten by a Gourmet Hunter that you'll make it…The type of Hunter you want to be has nothing to do with this." Shizu began to tune her out at this point now. _She's just lecturing us like the others had at this point. Sigh. _While she was thinking, Shizu woke up the deeply sleeping Rakku and pulled off his boots._ I prefer the yelling Menchi. At least it was funny to watch her screaming at other people…_She was burst out of her thoughts quickly, and nearly dropped the boots in the process by a projected voice that sounded like it was coming from outside.

"That's one explanation! But does it justify such severity?!" The voice emanated from a blimp flying overhead. It almost looked like a video game character, with its weird face on a bullet shaped object. Despite its humorous figure, there seemed to be an air of authority surrounding the airship.

"The symbol of the Hunter Association!" Someone shouted. _Really? _Shizu raised an eyebrow and looked at the ship with a newfound respect. _It's still funny looking though._ From underneath the blimp, there was a small dot that grew closer in proximity. _Wait…_Shizu squinted at the dark figure. _Was that a person?_ It seemed so, as an old man rapidly fell toward the ground. Astonishment quickly replaced the confusion from before as the old man made contact with the earth, without a single scratch from his deadly plunge. Ignoring the awe of the crowd and its muttering, the old man turned to Menchi almost expectantly.

Menchi gave a sharp intake of breath. "Chairman Netero of the judging committee." She stared in shock. "He's the head director of the Hunter Exam." The general awe was replaced, yet again, by shock and astonishment. This old man was the head of the famous Hunter Exam? It would have seemed unbelievable if they all didn't see him land on the ground from who knows how high perfectly unharmed. Not to mention the fact that Menchi seemed to be frozen at the mere presence of the old man.

"Responsible yes, but I'm only an executor. And I'm here to solve this kind of problem." He turned to the frozen Menchi, who only seemed to freeze up even more. "Menchi."

"Yes!" She responded immediately.

"Concerning their ability to take on a challenge in a domain they do not know…Do you believe the attitude they had in front of this trial justified such severity." He scolded Menchi as if she was a young child. _Kind of funny really, the way she's reacting. _Shizu cracked a grin at the thought of an adult Netero scolding a toddler Menchi.

"…No…" She looked at her feet guiltily. "Many facts troubled me. Mainly the lack of respect the participants had for cooking…" Menchi looked up at Netero with frustration written across her face. "Add that to the incident which permitted them to know the recipe of the order…" Netero nodded understandingly. "It got my blood boiling and I lost my temper…"

"Do you understand why you failed the mission which was ordered to you?" Netero said in a parent-like manner again.

Menchi looked back down at her feet again. "Yes…" She finally picked up a few scraps of dignity. "I'm sorry! When it's a question about cooking, I tend to forget my role." She gave a soft sigh. "I failed as a jury member, didn't I?" Shizu tuned them out as the two were being more official and less amusing. _Oh._ The corpulent *ahem fat ahem* man was picking himself up from the ground with blood smeared across his face. _That took a while._ "A boiled egg!" Menchi gave the order with the regality of a judge returned. _So, what exactly is going on…_Shizu looked around at the others, but shrugged. _I'll figure it out…maybe…_Rakku pulled at her cloak urgently. She grumbled when she was taken out of her thoughts, then she saw that the participants were climbing onto the blimp in a hurried cluster. Remembering what she was doing, Shizu stuffed the boots back into her pouch and rushed forward to catch up with the group with Rakku padding along beside her.

* * *

Shizu sunk into the soft seat beside the blimp's window. The view outside was breathtaking. Killua and Gon had probably gone exploring or something, as she couldn't find them after coming on board so late, so they couldn't awe at the view with her. Rakku was sleeping again, so he didn't watch the scenery either. They were passing over part of the swamp that they had run across before. From the air, it looked quite peaceful and beautiful with its lush greenery and occasional bodies of water. Small animals darted around, but from so high up, they looked like moving dots. _You wouldn't think that this place had killed so many of us before from this view._ Then, she noticed that her reflection was quite clear in the glass. _When did my hair get so long?_ Shizu tugged at the ends of her raven hair that had long since exceeded her shoulder. She noted with satisfaction that her face was shadowed by the hood of her dark brown cloak; it was evident that she was a girl, but it was difficult to tell her apart from other people. _That's reassuring…But what if they do see it? What if they hate you like everyone else did?_ Another voice seemed to say with a sneer. _Shut up._

Eventually, the blimp landed on a barren plateau that was split straight down the middle. Looking downward, the bottom of the cliff contained a sliver of a line that appeared to be a river. Needless to say, the cliff was precariously deep.

"Here it is." Menchi gestured to the abyss.

"But…what's down there?" The plump man broke the tense silence.

Menchi began to remove her boots. "Don't worry! There's a very deep river. The current is very strong. So you'd better not fall in, unless you want to be washed ashore a dozen miles from here." _If we manage to fall _into_ the river that is. That thing's just a thin line! _Shizu stared down at it before turning to everyone's simultaneous 'Huh?!' She saw the disappearing figure of Menchi jumping off of the cliff and falling rapidly until she became a small point on a thin plane. The participants looked at the cliff incredulously.

Netero began to explain to the baffled people. "It's here, on Mount Mafutatsu, that live the tarantula-eagles. She went to get one of their eggs." A realization swept over the crowd, quickly replaced by a sudden revelation that they would also have to do this. "Tarantula-eagles tighten strong lines between both rock faces, and suspend their eggs to protect them from the attacks of land creatures." Staring intently at the dot that was Menchi, Shizu noticed clumps of other smaller dots that were suspended over the chasm. As Netero began to explain how to grab the eggs, they all watched as the miniscule Menchi performed these actions. "You have to grab the line!" Menchi had caught a thin web that had somehow held her weight. _Spider silk is stronger than steel._ Shizu recalled reading. "Take one egg…" Menchi acrobatically flipped and caught the web strand with her legs to grab an egg with her hands. "And come back up climbing the rock face…" She swung herself at the earth face and began to climb back to the top with ease. She popped up to the impressed crowd.

"And finally…" Menchi finished Netero's lecture. "You have to boil the egg!" Many were frozen at the prospect of leaping into a canyon voluntarily.

"Ah, cool!" A younger voice cheerfully said to the fearful stillness.

"Yeah! I was expecting something more like that!" An equally bright voice said. Shizu turned toward it and found Gon and Killua looking quite pleased at this new challenge at the far end of the crowd. _Of course _they're_ the ones who say that._ She chuckled softly._ Hmm…I'll rejoin them after the cliff diving thing._ Shizu turned to tell Rakku to wait for her here, but found that he was sleeping again. _Is he part sloth or something?_ She deadpanned.

"Let's go for it!" Leorio's voice shouted as people began to jump off of the edge. Shizu smirked and dived off of the solid ground after them. The gust of wind and exhilaration from the fall was a rush. Searching for a strand to grab onto, Shizu spotted one near enough to her so that she didn't fall into the deep river below. Judging by some of the shouts of dismay, she was quite lucky to find a string to grab. Climbing across the strand, Shizu reached one hand to grab an egg and tucked it securely into her pouch. Now she looked at the edge to find a way back up. She swung back and forth on her strand, gathering momentum and launched herself into the air toward a higher strand. Repeating this process, she managed to get near the top before launching herself toward the wall. Ignoring the scratches that the edges of the rock gave her, Shizu rejoined the others at the top of the chasm. Pulling the egg from her pouch intact, she tossed it into the large pot that was set up with the others. The pot was heating up quickly and the water was already starting to boil. At Menchi's signal, the participants all removed their eggs from the scalding water.

"Here's an egg like the ones you can buy…" Menchi gestured to the white chicken egg in her left hand. "And here's a tarantula-eagle's egg." She gestured to the black speckled, larger egg in her right. "See the difference!" Shizu bit into the normal egg first, finding it…normal. After finishing that one, she peeled the black shell off of the tarantula-eagle's egg and nibbled off a piece. Her eyes widened in amazement. _This is in an entirely different league compared to a regular egg! It's so delicious!_ She ate the egg more slowly to savor the taste. Before she knew it, the egg was gone. Shizu stared at her empty hand, as if attempting to will another egg to appear. Giving up, she shook the grumpy panther awake and stepped aboard the airship. She slipped next to Gon and Killua, and listened to them chat while following the trickle of people toward the front of the blimp.

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**Well, that's another one done! Eh. Not exactly the best chapters ever so far...it'll hopefully get better eventually ^.^  
Thanks to:  
karyn. esther (did that seriously happen AGAIN?), Saphire Castor and Sanity'sRival for following  
Sousie for favoriting**

Thanks for reading! Till next time *poofs away*


	5. Adventure on the Airship

**Hey there!...I have nothing to say, so I'm just gonna get on with the story...  
Disclaimer: I own nothing from Hunter x Hunter**

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The remaining participants crowded around the cockpit of the blimp to listen to the lecture that Netero was giving. "It might be time for the 42 remaining contestants to know who I am." Netero began. _Wow…there were so few left after only two tests? _"My name is Netero, and I'm responsible for the trials, and a member of the organization committee." He paused. "I wasn't supposed to show myself until the final phase of the trials but…I came sooner than expected." _I wonder why…_Shizu sweat-dropped. However, she was one of the few that were relaxed. Most of the contestants were tense and uneasy. Netero laughed, effectively breaking the harsh atmosphere apart. "Your anxiety is comprehendible, but I believe it's a good thing…Hohoho. So if you'll allow me among you for the time being."

A bean like person began to speak as well. "We should arrive tomorrow around eight at the next trial ground." He said in a cheery voice. "We are waiting for them to contact us. You are free to do whatever you want until we arrive." At that, Killua and Gon jumped up to go explore the vessel enthusiastically.

"Come on Rak-" Shizu sweat dropped as she looked at the panther. He was sleeping again. _Seriously,_ _is he part sloth or something?_ She thought again before chasing after the two energetic boys.

* * *

"Kids aren't allowed in the kitchen!" The cook snapped. "Now scram!" He slammed the door in their faces.

"Tch." Killua said.

"…" Shizu sweat dropped.

"How about we go explore over there instead?" Gon suggested brightly. The other two nodded, and the trio headed down the hallway. The hallway was rather short and ended at a pair of double doors and another one leading to the dining hall. The promise of food was tantalizing and irresistible. Shizu's stomach growled pitifully causing her to flush with embarrassment. Gon and Killua laughed as their stomachs began to groan at the promise of food as well. They walked into the crowded cafeteria to satisfy their hunger before resuming their expedition of the ship.

* * *

With their hunger satiated, the adventure continued. There were only the double doors leading to the deck of the blimp left. The night air was chilly and calm. The stars twinkled softly in the sky, while the large moon shed a gentle light on the Earth below. It was an open area with little to explore, but it was a relaxing and soothing place to be. Shizu stared out into the sky, lost in her thoughts. The murmurs of the engine blended with the chatting of Gon and Killua. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air. _It's so nice to be away from there._

The wind began to pick up, and blew across her face and through her hair. Shizu's eyes snapped open with realization and felt at the top of her head. _My hood-! _She quickly pulled her hood back on and thoroughly disrupted her inner peace in the process. _Did they notice?_ She turned slightly to and noticed that they had stopped their conversation and were staring at her. Shizu winced. _Maybe I'm being overdramatic…but everyone else had hated me for it._ She forced her expression to become unreadable. _Yeah…because of the blood red eyes of a demon._ Shizu could still hear the shouts of hatred and detest clinging to her past memories, never relinquishing its hold. She shoved the thoughts away and forced herself to accept the worst.

"Wow! I've never seen anyone with red eyes before!" Gon exclaimed with no trace of negative emotion. Shizu blinked. And blinked again. _Huh?_ Killua nodded in agreement.

"Yup! You're definitely weird all right." Killua teased. Shizu couldn't help it. She laughed. _I really was just overreacting. It's just an eye color, after all._ She laughed in immense relief and utter surprise._ They're different from everyone else. _The two looked at her strangely.

"Says the one with old grandpa hair." Shizu finally managed to say amidst all of her giggles. Killua gave her a mock offended look. Her laughter finally began to ebb, leaving a wide grin on her face. "Come on." _That's right._ "Let's head inside. It's pretty chilly out." Shizu went back inside with the two boys. _They're my friends._

* * *

"Wow!" Gon exclaimed.

"It looks like a diamond!" Killua remarked, hands pressed to the glass window.

"Pretty…" Shizu simply said. The three were sitting on a bench next to a huge window. The view outside was absolutely spectacular. It easily topped the view of the marsh from before. This time the blimp was flying over a large city. Small sparks of light filled the dark landscape, outlining buildings, roads, and cars as they traversed their daily lives. Even the mountains beyond the city had bright specks around it; it looked like fireflies surrounding it from so far away.

"Killua?" Gon asked seriously.

"Yes?" Killua responded.

"Have you got parents?" Gon questioned. Shizu tilted her head in interest at the sudden change of topic.

"Huh?" He seemed surprised at the question. "Yes! Of course…" He continued to look outside with more of a pondering look.

"What do they do?" Gon continued his series of questions.

"Assassins." Killua said nonchalantly.

"Both of them?" Gon furthermore asked.

"Cool." Shizu simply said. Killua turned and gave the two a strange look again, and stared as if processing unknown data. Then, he burst into laughter while Gon and Shizu exchanged looks of blank confusion.

"You guys are really weird! Ahaha!" Killua eventually stopped his laughter and explained his reaction. "That's the first time anyone's listened to me seriously and responded that way afterwards!"

"Why? It's true, isn't it?" Gon tilted his head innocently.

"What makes you say that?" Killua gave a disbelieving glance.

Gon gave a sheepish grin. "Nothing really…"

"Well, what reason would you have to lie to us about that?" Shizu pointed out. Killua turned back to peering out the window. The other two did the same. A lull of silence spread among the trio as they all became lost in their own thoughts.

"At my place," Killua said, breaking the quiet atmosphere. "The main activity is assassination. For everyone." He sighed. "And I'm not telling you how much pressure my family puts on me…but I don't like the idea of others deciding what I'll do with my life." He changed his serious tone to one of exasperation. "When I told them, 'I'll decide my own future by myself!' they all got mad! My mother started crying, telling me I had a gift for this job…It's horrible, parents like that…" Shizu and Gon sweat dropped. _This just went from an explanation to a full on rant huh…_Killua suddenly grinned. _Is he bipolar or something?_ "To make a long story short, I beat up my mom and brother and ran away! They probably haven't healed up yet!" The other two sweat dropped again. "If they come here, I'll be in a lot of trouble but…" He jumped up gleefully at his next thought. "If I become a hunter, the first thing I'll do is arrest all my family! I'm certain to get a good reward!"

"And you say that we're weird…" Shizu chuckled at Killua's little drama. The conversation took a more normal turn, or kind of normal turn. There were no more mini dramas at any rate. In the middle of their conversation, a sensation of blood thirst aimed at them caused the three to jump back in alarm. All they saw was the empty hallway before them. Then, clunking footsteps from behind them echoed throughout the long passage.

"What's happening?" The voice of the chairman asked with a hint of amusement lining his words. The three turned around in surprise and stared at Netero. "Well?" He prompted.

"Netero-san, didn't you have the sensation of somebody closing in from there?" Gon asked curiously. Leave it to Gon to be so straight forward and honest.

"No…" Netero said while stroking his beard. _He's lying._ Shizu narrowed her eyes. They stared at Netero again in a tense silence.

"You're really fast for your age…" Killua openly challenged the chairman.

"You think?" Netero continued his act. "I was just walking without haste…" Killua glared with annoyance at Netero while Netero looked calmly back. But there was no mistaking the chilling atmosphere surrounding the two. Gon looked back and forth at them with confusion. Shizu merely looked on with a fixed blank face.

"What do you want?" Killua asked with an edge to his voice. "Got nothing to do until the finals?"

Netero shrugged the rudeness off easily. "Such coldness! I'm bored, so I was looking for someone to play with." _Translation. He's trying to mess with us because it's fun._ Shizu gritted her teeth. "It's your first participation in the trials, right?" He questioned, diverting the topic. "How do you like it?"

"Yes! It's fun!" Gon exclaimed perkily. "It's different than what I expected! There are no written exams, for instance…" He looked quite relieved.

"It's alright." Shizu said tersely.

"Me, I'm disappointed." Killua sounded extremely bored while saying this. "I thought the trials would be harder…" He looked up slightly more eagerly. "Will we finally have fun during the next tests?"

"Well…You'll see…" The chairman attempted to look mysterious, but just succeeded in annoying Killua even more. At that, Killua quickly dragged Gon and Shizu with him away from the old man.

"Tch. Come on! We're wasting our time…"

"Wait." Netero said in a more serious tone causing the three to comply. "Don't you want to play a game with me?" They looked at him with curiosity and slight confusion. "If you win…I'll give you the title of Hunter!" That bribe sealed the deal for them, and they agreed to the challenge.

* * *

They were led to a room that they had previously seen near the beginning of their exploration. It was a plain, uninteresting place that held no furnishings. It was just a room with a wooden floor and a wall with many portholes circling around the interior. Netero removed his thick overcoat and shoes, leaving him in barefoot and in a kind of gym training attire that consisted of a black undershirt and white sweatpants. He pulled a ball from his overcoat and began to explain his challenge. "We've still got time before we reach the next trial ground…The rules are simple!" The chairman announced. "If you can take this ball, you win. You're free to attack me any way you'd like!" He laid down the rules. "I won't hit back."

"We just have to take the ball, right?" Killua clarified. Netero nodded in confirmation. "Alright, I'll start." Killua began to walk towards the old man.

"Go ahead." Netero taunted, twirling the ball on his finger. Killua frowned but began to circle around him. As he stepped, he left afterimages behind until there was a ring of the silver haired boy circling warily around the chairman. Gon gasped, astounded at the illusion, while Shizu's eyes widened with a slight awe. _It's like watching a projection. There's not even a single sound coming from his footsteps. Wow._

One of the Killuas tensed for a split second before charging towards Netero at an extreme speed and grabbing at the ball that still remained balanced on his forefinger. Netero dodged the ambush with ease and continued to taunt the leaping Killua who was attacking fiercely. Killua stopped his rushing and paused as if to calculate what to do next. Then, he charged in and swung his leg at the chairman's. A huge cracking sound resounded from the blow. Shizu and Gon winced at the painful sound. _That's _got_ to hurt…_"Ouch!" Gon voiced his empathy. "A rotating tackle! He broke his…" Then they watched as no reaction came from Netero. Shizu blinked. _Huh?_ Then, Killua's triumphant grin faltered and morphed into one of extreme discomfort.

He shouted in pain as he hopped back to his friends. "His leg is as hard as rock!" Killua warned the others before tapping Gon in to the fight. Killua plopped down next to Shizu at the wall, rubbing his sore leg bitterly. Gon, on the other hand, began to stretch his limbs with an air of anticipation.

"Alright! My turn!" Gon exclaimed eagerly. Then he tensed his muscles up, before rushing forward with a powerful sprint. "Go!" Netero merely looked at the boy almost with disappointment. What he didn't expect was for Gon to jump up into the air just before reaching him. The chairman also didn't expect the boy to hit his head on the ceiling and give his surprise attack away completely. Gon landed on the floor with dignity, but then sat down and rubbed his aching head.

Killua had an astounded and mildly concerned expression. "Well, you can jump really high, but…" He sweat dropped. "Try and calculate your hit better next time!" Shizu muttered a quiet agreement while sweat dropping herself. "Especially since he wasn't focused!" Killua called out loudly. Netero looked as if trying to convince himself that that statement wasn't true. Shizu chuckled at the old man's childish reaction. At this point, Gon had already picked himself up and was attempting to find another means of attack. He dashed forward again and began to do as Killua had before and rushed around with great speed to nab the toy. Netero laughed his strange laugh as he dodged the attempts with extreme ease as he had before.

Eventually, even Gon was ready to take a break and he tapped Shizu into the battle before sitting himself next to Killua. She walked forward cautiously, planning. _Let's see…_she circled around the chairman, eyes narrowed. He merely stared back calmly. _I won't be able to win with a straight forward attack. Both Gon and Killua have proved that._ _Hmm…_She paused her pacing and narrowed her eyes. _That could work…maybe…_She rushed forward as the other two boys had, but at a much slower pace. Her attempts at snagging the ball were feeble at the very most. Netero began to look slightly bored and disappointed. _I can imagine that Killua and Gon look the same. Well, maybe not Gon._ She chuckled inside. Then, she paused as if to catch her breath. _So far so good…_

Unexpectedly, Shizu dashed forward toward the round toy with just as much speed as Gon and Killua. She feinted to the right and reached forward with her hand to knock the ball off. Even though Netero was caught unawares and pleasantly surprised, he dodged as if he had been expecting the attack all along. _Tch!_ Shizu stopped herself after her sudden burst of speed. _It's pointless to rush forward at him without a strategy…_She began to circle around the chairman again. Her cloak swished behind her to the point of annoyance. _I can't do this seriously with something so bothersome._ A small warning bell sounded in her head. She frowned. _These people aren't like the others. Don't be such a coward._ She removed her cloak and balled it up along with her pouch and knife and tossed it toward the wall. The cloth landed on the ground with a thump and Shizu grinned at her extra mobility.

"Hohoho." Netero stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I haven't seen those eyes in quite a while." Shizu stopped dead and looked at him in confusion. "Tell me, is your mother Sayomi Chi?" Shizu's eyes widened in recognition of the said name.

"Huh? How do you know her, Netero-san?" Disbelief laced her voice.

"She was quite the Hunter back in the day." Netero explained to the shocked girl. "That was, until she met your father and retired." He chuckled again. "You are the only other person aside from her I have seen with those red eyes. No doubt you are her daughter."

Shizu furrowed her brows in confusion. "Perhaps you have the wrong person…Netero-san." She added quickly. "My mom has blue eyes and anyways…I'm adopted." A frown flitted across his face. It had been replaced with his original cheery face so quickly that Shizu thought that she imagined it. _He's knows something…_Keeping a blank face, Shizu attempted to grab the toy in hopes that Netero was too distracted to dodge it.

However the chairman had not remained distracted for long. "How foolish." Netero taunted. Shizu narrowed her eyes as she prepared her next move. She rushed in and threw any strategies out the metaphorical window; Netero could see through any one of them. The best hope was to wear Netero down and manage to grab the ball with a quick succession of attacks. However, the old man dodged past every one of them with an infuriating smirk on his face. Scowling, Shizu aimed a quick jab at the bones of the back of the hand that held the ball to force him to let the ball go. That was her mistake. A moment passed, and then another and Shizu jumped back, cradling her hand in pain. She hissed out a breath and walked back to the other two massaging her aching hand, and tapped Killua back in.

"I told you, didn't I?" Killua deadpanned as he walked back toward the grinning old man.

Shizu scowled again. "Oh shut up…I forgot all right?" She plopped down next to Gon with a sigh.

"Who's the old one now?" Killua managed to tease before getting back into the challenge. Shizu let the taunt slide, and turned to Gon, who was watching the match intently.

"Do you think that we still stand a chance?" She asked the black haired boy.

"I don't know." Gon said honestly. "But we won't know unless we try, right?" Simple Gon logic. _He's right._ Shizu turned back to the match and watched as Killua continued to grab at the toy to no avail.

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**Thanks for reading; Hope you enjoyed!  
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See you next week!**


	6. Losing the Game and a Tower of Tricks

**Hey there! So yeah, hope you can put up with the cliches for the time being *ahem* the red eye thing *ahem* I'll try my best to make this come together better! Hope you enjoy this week's chapter! Oh yeah, did anyone lose the game after reading the title? *evil smirk* *dodges tomato* Hey! Fine I'll get on with it. Sheesh.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter**

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The amount of time that had passed was unaccounted for. The matches were too interesting and infuriating to turn away from like an irritating level in a great video game. By this point, Gon and Killua had shed their clothes to don lighter layers as well. Gon had removed his jacket to leave just a white undershirt. Killua had just removed his outer shirt, leaving his long sleeved one on. Shizu had kept her loose fitting black tee shirt on, but had rolled up her long jeans to the length of a pair of shorts. All three were panting with sweat dripping down their faces. Netero on the other hand, had continued to avoid their attacks and tactics without any problems. His face morphed to one of mockery as he said, "We'll get nowhere like that! I'll let all of you attack me at the same time." Killua had veins on his face, clearly showing his irritation at the old man. Gon still had his determined look, while Shizu kept her face carefully free of emotion. _Gah! He's so irritating!_ Shizu was tearing her hair with frustration on the inside.

The three rushed at Netero at the same time. Netero simply sidestepped to dodge Shizu completely. She rolled with the momentum and scowled. Killua was blocked with Netero's left hand with no effort, and Gon leapt for the ball only for it to be kicked aside by the chairman's right foot. _No wonder the prize was so huge. He thinks that he can't lose._ Gon ran forward again like the other times, and Netero taunted him again. "Well, well! Tired already?" He began to dodge Gon's kick as he had before. "You attacks give me a feeling of 'Déjà vu'."

Gon kicked forward with a loud, "Take that!" and narrowly missed Netero's face by a few centimeters. Then, Netero gave a loud exclamation as he was kicked in the chin. After looking more closely, the chairman had seen what Gon had done. Gon had let his boot slide off of his foot for extra range to catch Netero off guard, and it had worked.

"That's not a fair way to fight…?! Letting you shoes slide off to hit me…" Netero said with indignation as he stumbled backwards. Seizing the opportunity, Shizu dashed forward and aimed a kick just under the chairman's knee. She sucked in a breath of pain as she leapt back from her attack, but it had done its job. The old man's balance was even more off, and he had no chance to dodge Killua's finishing blow to his head. Netero flew forward with the impact and the ball slipped out of his hands. The ball rose upwards almost in slow motion, and a glimmer of hope seemed to shine. Killua jumped forward to grab it with a childish grin on his face.

"Got it!" Killua shouted triumphantly. However, Netero refused to be stopped so easily.

"Pardon?" He said calmly as he balanced onto his left hand and kicked the ball away with his right leg. The ball sailed away in a graceful arc and Netero went forward to grab it again. Unfortunately for him, Gon launched his other shoe at the ball and kicked it out of the way just before Netero could catch it.

The three children ran forward, with triumph lacing their voices. "We got it!" Just a few inches more, and they would reach the toy. The three reached toward it with bright smiles when they felt a strong prescence behind them. Immediately following that, a blurry figure knocked them all away and reclaimed the ball. He slid forward from the momentum of the dash and looked at the stunned children with a look of superiority.

"Nice try! You almost got it…" Netero said while balancing the toy on his finger mockingly. Shizu panted and got up onto her exhausted legs. _I know my limits…_She thought this dejectedly as walked toward the wall where her property was thrown earlier. She wrapped her cloak around her and pulled on her hood again and walked toward the exit while adjusting her belongings back to where they were.

"I'm done. I've reached my limit." She said with a nonchalant tone. "I'm going to go find somewhere to sleep now. See you in the morning." Gon looked at her incredulously and questioned why. "I'm just tired. It's been a pretty long day after all." Shizu said cheerily as she walked out of the doors to search for her panther partner. It didn't take long. He was nearby with a '_Where did you go?'_ expression, twitching his tail impatiently. She laughed quietly and sat down against the wall. "Well now it's my turn to get some shuteye, sloth." Rakku gave her an indignant look, but curled up next to her protectively as Shizu nodded off to sleep.

_The alleyway was so cold...I felt so frozen, shivering like a leaf. _They wouldn't mind if I took a stick of fire would they?_ I struggled to my feet and limped forward, every step shooting pain up my legs. As I walked out of the little shelter that the alley provided, a ruthless gust of wind blew at my battered body. The ragged dress that clothed my body flapped limply in the wind, too thin to be of any protection. The large bonfire for their festival was only a few yards away now. I could feel the warmth from here. _I'm so lucky that it's so dark now…_The shadows concealed me from the gaze of the people that resided in the buildings here. So much laughter and happiness emanated from them. I reached a shaking hand in front of me and barely touched the edge of a branch of the bonfire when a rough force pulled me away. A sharp pain on my cheek. "Monster!" A shout rattled my brain. "Why don't you leave us alone?!" It alerted the other partygoers and they quickly formed a crowded, faceless circle around me. To watch the demon cowering on the ground, inferior to the people of the town._

_ "I-I just want some f-fire…" I rasped out, my voice raw from dehydration. Laughter echoed around me from the shadowy people._

_ "Wants fire does it?" One said mockingly. I shut my eyes tightly and steeled my nerves for the beating that was for certain to follow. Rather than the blunt, harsh blows of kicks and punches, a searing pain on the back of my hand caused a shuddering gasp to escape me. Tears prickled at the edge of my eyes, warm on my ice cold skin. That just caused the person to press harder on my hand with the blazing heat and moved it in harsh, curved motions. After what seemed like ages of holding back tears and screams, the initial heat lifted. However, my hand still throbbed intensely. Opening one eye weakly, I nearly gasped again. The back of my hand was shiny with moisture and was already beginning to blister. The curved motions were actually an intricate drawing of a fire on my skin. It was the artist who did it huh…the artist who gave candy to the other children and spat at my feet. Neither hate nor fear rose in my mind though; just exhaustion and hurt. Seeing the wound amplified the pain by a hundredfold. "You'll always have fire now, won't you?" The voice of the artist sneered._

_ I struggled to my feet, trembling and unsteady. The pain was still stinging, and it seemed to have awakened the bruises and cuts on the rest of me now. The cold air did nothing to alleviate the searing agony on my hand or the stings of the other wounds. I pushed through the crowd and rushed in a hurried zigzag back to the alleyway where I was safe. Their laughter still echoed behind me, cruel and haunting. My vision was blurry and dotted with the black that threatened unconsciousness. A rough feeling on my face caused the stinging cuts on my cheek to increase. "Shizu!" A distant voice said urgently. My body was shaking. "Shizu!" It was clearer now. "Wake up!"…Huh?_

Shizu blinked her eyes blearily as she looked at the blurry figures of her worried, unmistakable panther friend and the concern of another blurry figure. She rubbed her eyes to get her vision back into focus. "Huh?" She said with her voice still heavy with sleep. "Oh. Killua, good morning." Only a slight tremor betrayed the emotions from her dreams. That could just as easily be from the grogginess of sleep though. _At least I hope so…_Whatever Killua thought, he didn't show it either. There was a still silence as Shizu picked herself up from the wall and patted the still worried Rakku to ease his concern.

"I was going to get Gon when I saw that you were still asleep." Killua explained as they began to walk in the direction of the room where they played and lost the game. "The ship's landing."

"Really?" Shizu said thoughtfully. "Then what are we waiting for?" She said brightly before she began to increase her pace eagerly. Rakku was close behind her, his claws clicking on the hard tiles of the floor. Killua sighed but followed after to find Gon. However, Shizu allowed her thoughts to drift once more to the nightmare she had. _Why did I dream of that memory of all things…?_ She looked toward her right hand, where the pale scar still remained. She shook herself mentally and forced herself to focus on the events ahead. Shizu ran into the room first to find Gon passed out on the ground with a huge smile on his face. A blanket was placed over his sprawled body. _Probably Netero huh._ _I guess he isn't just an irritating old man after all…_She tapped Gon awake as Killua entered the room. Gon blinked sleepily at the group. "The ship's landing, sleepyhead." Shizu explained. Gon hopped onto his feet and grabbed his belongings from the night before.

"Let's go then!" Gon exclaimed excitedly. He charged off, leaving the other two behind retaining his large grin. _Man, that brightness of his is contagious…_Shizu and Killua exchanged an amused smirk before hurrying off after the energetic boy. Rakku pouted at being left out again. Shizu rubbed him on the head comfortingly.

"C'mon Rakku, you heard him." She told her grumpy panther friend. The latter huffed before padding after them. The group dashed excitedly to the front of the airship. The remaining participants were already gathered at the exit. Most were clearly impatient and anxious for the next test. The tension continued to build as the airship could be felt lowering toward their destination. A small jolt caused the majority of the people standing onboard to shift their balance slightly, bumping into each other in a chain reaction; one bumped into another which caused that one to move into another. Luckily, the trio was near the back so they avoided this shove fest.

A thin crack of bright light filtered in as the large door began to rise. The light began to grow larger but less intense as the opening continued to enlarge. Once the door rose up as far as it could go, the first glimpse of the mysterious location was revealed. The land in front of them was barren rock. There was nothing else but a presumably steep drop. A ramp stretched out from the opening, allowing the participants to step out to investigate this new area.

All that was to be seen around the blimp were the initial surroundings. The place was enormous, but there was no obvious objective in sight. People began to wander around looking for clues as to the next challenge. Shizu and Rakku walked in one direction to the edge and peered down. It was a dizzying drop to the ground, and even Netero, the iron man, would probably not survive the fall unscathed. Beans, as Shizu now called the bean shaped man, cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. Almost everyone anyway. As usual, Shizu had tuned out the explanations and lectures, only catching the words 'Trick Tower', 'Seventy-two hours', 'bottom', and 'alive'. _That's enough to get the gist of the trial…hopefully._

After his speech, Beans had returned to the blimp. Soon after, it had flown away, leaving the participants to plan a way down this towering obstacle. A shout emanated from the retreating airship. "May the trials begin! Good luck!" However, it was lost on the participants as they were all deep in thought. Time was ticking, and the way down was lost to the people. _It's probably not straight down the wall…it's too direct and there's always a catch…_Shizu and Rakku regrouped with Killua and Gon, who were watching a muscular man descend along the face of the wall. Then Gon noticed something in the distance and alerted his companions about it.

"Ah…" Gon seemed at a loss for words.

"What?" Killua questioned with slight confusion.

"Look." Gon simply pointed in the direction he was looking and the other two narrowed their eyes at the small, rapidly approaching dots. _Are those…birds?_ Shizu squinted at the enlarging figures. Her eyes widened at the disfigured creatures that were clearly heading for the climber. _Those are _definitely _not birds._ The three watched as the man was ripped apart and eaten by the winged things. Climbing down was suicide; there was no doubt about that. They turned around to find another way and were surprised to see that the numbers of the people had decreased by a little more than half. One person looked around cautiously, probably trying to be secretive but failing miserably. The trio had noticed and focused their attention on the man. He knelt to the ground and pushed on the floor. The tile gave way and flipped him into the room below. Without a word, they had rushed over to that spot and tried the tile to receive no result.

"Damn." Killua cursed with annoyance.

"Looks like it's one way only…" Shizu mused.

"What about we split up?" Killua suggested. "We'll cover more ground that way."

"Sure!" Gon agreed. Shizu nodded and they headed in different directions to investigate. After walking for a bit with Rakku and testing out the tiles, Shizu realized something.

"Hey Rakku…The tiles are only big enough for one person to go through, so you wouldn't be able to fit huh…Sorry for asking this, but could you do that?" She asked Rakku regretfully. Rakku nodded with understanding and tensed up. With a burst of energy, Rakku's form began to change and shrink down. His fur bristled and his claws left deep grooves in the stone. When he was done with the transformation, he was about the size of a house cat. Rakku's legs trembled and collapsed underneath him. Shizu picked him up in her arms gently and set off on her investigation again. Almost immediately, she tripped and stepped forward heavily to steady herself. The force triggered a trap door and flipped Shizu and Rakku into the room below.

Shizu squeaked as she fell onto the ground with a thump. Rakku gave a startled hiss at the impact. With one arm holding onto Rakku firmly, Shizu held her spinning head. It soon stopped, and she got up to analyze her situation. There was nothing to see; quite literally actually. The room was filled with a thick black and no amount of squinting could reveal any shapes in the darkness. Shizu held onto Rakku more tightly, who knew enough not to react and was too exhausted to anyways. Doing so would just lead her to just panic more. Shizu clenched her teeth and fists and reached forward to find a wall. _Calm down…just focus on getting out of here._ Her hand brushed against a smooth surface. _Just the wall. Nothing to worry about at all._ She squeaked and jumped back as the wall glowed faintly. Reprimanding herself for being so jumpy, Shizu stepped closer to the light. Parts of the wall dimmed to form letters spelling out a message.

**The Path of the Shadow: You will have to traverse a maze in complete darkness.**

"A maze?" Shizu said, appalled. _Uh oh…_She looked around the room for something else that would prevent her from taking this route. There were no other messages; just a stone room with a loudspeaker and an entrance to the aforementioned maze. However, the light began to recede and leave the girl and cat back in the dark.

The loudspeaker crackled to life, startling her. "Ok then! This tower contains a multitude of passageways to reaching the bottom. Each one contains its own challenge. It will be impossible to use sight in this trial, and the maze is filled with traps and tricks. With that, good luck!" Another loud crackle signified the end of the transmission. Shizu gulped and reached for the entranceway. _I have to do this. Just one step at a time. _A deep inhale of breath. _See, it's easy. _An exhale of breath. She felt along the side of the wall and hugged the side. Following along it for an uncertain amount of time, the path led to another wall; a dead end. The floor began to crumble underneath Shizu's feet and she released the wall and ran for safer ground. Luckily, it was only that one specific path that crumbled to an abyss. Unluckily, she had arrived in the room she had started in. Or i_s it? I can't tell. Wonderful Shizu. Just wonderful…_She felt around the walls to determine where to go and blinked constantly as if to dispel the curtain of darkness. Shizu froze as she heard the sound of a vicious growl behind her. Time was ticking.

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**Eheh cliffhangers. I was bound to use one sometime~**

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**Thanks for reading everyone! **


	7. To Conquer Darkness and Boredom

**So to continue with the cliffhanger :) *tomato splatters on face* Oh come on! I just showered D: Antics aside, hope you enjoy!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter (I think you know the drill by this point...)**

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The growls grew ever closer, combined with the panting of some great beast. Shizu remained in her frozen state. She could almost see the beast in her mind's eye; huge razor sharp fangs, with vivid narrowed yellow eyes, elongated claws clicking on the stone…She could almost feel the hot breath of the wild creature on her neck, and she could almost feel the creature preparing to slice her apart like pudding. Nothing happened. A tiny snippet of reason that still remained told her to calm down and focus. _Wait…the sound is right on top of me, but there's nothing there. A trick!_ Shizu mentally whacked herself for falling for such a simple trap. _This is going to take a while…_She steeled her nerves and continued moving onward, deeper into the maze.

Shizu stepped forward stiffly and slowly. She listened to her surroundings warily while holding onto Rakku like a lifeline. The next step nearly caused her to lose her balance. The stone that her foot had stepped on sunk into the ground and a loud buzzing sound began to resound throughout the hallway. The dark still enveloped the maze with a tight fist and the buzzing was coming closer. She burst into a sprint as the buzzing passed behind her and hit the wall opposite to it. _Chain…saws…?_ She thought numbly. She didn't stop her running; the chainsaws were still crashing into the ground behind her one after another. She didn't stop even after the buzzing grew fainter and fainter as Shizu raced away from the deadly trap. She darted left, then right, not caring which direction she went. _I-I want to get out of here!_ Each blind turn led her deeper into the maze and each turn led her to become more and more lost. After what could have been seconds, or minutes, or maybe even hours, Shizu finally slowed to a shaky stop.

She panted, completely out of breath and legs numb and shaking from the strain. No other traps had been sprung, but that could turn out to be a false lull. That was what Shizu's wary and racing mind was processing. She felt for a wall and collapsed against it. Shizu was much too exhausted to think, which might have been for the better. Rakku took the moment to leap onto her shoulders like a furry scarf and meow comfortingly. Shizu stroked his head instinctively. _It's been at least twelve hours then…_the panting girl thought tiredly. _...I need to get out of here…_She focused on that single thought and struggled onto her aching muscles. Proceeding forward, she had only walked for a few minutes before the ground began to crack crumble beneath her. Shizu forced her rigid muscles to continue the run despite its complaints via aching.

Not soon after reaching a stable surface, more traps had sprung. The walls began to move and close in with a slow grumbling, and the ceiling was doing the same. Dust sprang up around the participant and her companion. Eyes watering, Shizu focused on forcing her feet to move as fast as she could. She could feel Rakku's claws digging into her shoulders to stay seated. However, she pulled her thoughts away from that and closed her eyes from the stinging dust cloud to focus completely on her pounding feet on the stone surface. _Faster! Or I'll die here!_ That was enough to fuel the adrenaline rush to narrowly escape the impeding walls. Shizu breathed heavily as the walls completely shut behind her. Her muddled mind formed one thought. _Keep moving._

* * *

It was one trap and trick after another. A pitfall filled with who knows what at the bottom, fake monsters, real beasts, spike shooting walls, and more chainsaws to name a few. Shizu's legs trembled from the lack of a respite. _My endurance isn't going to last much longer…_Shizu grimaced, but continued onwards. It was a straight path now, without the twists and turns from before. No branching paths emerged from it, nor had there been any traps for the longest time. The longer this lack continued, the more Shizu became suspicious and cautious. The sound of a footstep was the thing that alerted her. She jumped back, but not before a sharp blade grazed her cheek. Blood trickled down slightly, tracing the outline of her face. Shizu wiped it off with her hand and tried to make out the attacker in the dark of the tunnel. However, there was only the darkness without a trace of light within it.

"Heheh…" A deep voice cackled. "It's been a long time since my blade tasted flesh and blood…" A flurry of steps immediately followed the sentence. Shizu took a deep breath and sidestepped; the knife lodging deeply into the wall with a loud crack where she had stood just a second before. There was a small moment of pure, nerve-racking silence before the attacker began to chuckle. Soon, it escalated into maniacal laughter, sending a small chill down Shizu's spine. "Don't worry little rabbit; it won't be too painful…" A thump. "But I would love to hear you squeal and scream before chopping you into pieces…" Another thump. "You can run…but that makes this all the more fun." More laughter echoed down the hallway. Slow steps inched closer and closer to Shizu, who continued to back away from the madman. Her back pressed against a cool, smooth surface where there should have been open air and her heart seemed to stop in a panic.

"Nowhere to run now…" The man said in a singsong tone as he advanced ever closer. Rakku hissed and dug his claws into Shizu's shoulder, ready to pounce at the attacker in a last resort. Shizu gulped and attempted to calm her racing heart and mind. _Get a grip. This guy's only human after all, nothing to panic about. _She forced her breathing to slow into shuddering, deep breaths. _It's just dark; that's the only reason that I'm panicking right now._ The steady pace of the attacker continued to loom closer, his shaky laughs and mutterings filling the silent air. _I can do this._ Shizu crept along the side of the wall cautiously and quietly, like a mere shadow that blended with the lightless space. A loud crack signaled the weapon embedding itself into the wall again. The man began to cackle again, attempting to dislodge the blade. Shizu took a deep breath. _Now or never._

* * *

_The tiny five year old Shizu's legs trembled and collapsed underneath her, causing her to crash painfully onto the ground. She lay there panting. Her mentor stood watching her disapprovingly, and then glanced at his watch. "That's enough of a break." He said gruffly. "Back to training with you." The girl pulled herself to a sitting position indignantly.  
"Hey! That was only ten seconds or something!" Shizu pouted, making a face.  
"Well if you can yell like that, then you must be perfectly fine." Her mentor's eyes twinkled with amusement. Shizu crossed her arms and scowled at her teasing teacher.  
"But I'm not strong enough to break that dummy in half with just my hands…" She said dejectedly. The said wooden dummy stood upright with marks from previous attempts, but remained impervious to the child's attacks. "Can we go back to accuracy training? Pleeeeeaaase?" Shizu looked toward her teacher hopefully, but a sharp glance immediately put the whining to a stop.  
"You have to be able to perform other aspects, not just the ones that you're good at." He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "If it makes it any better, I can give you a hint." Shizu clapped her hands gleefully and hopped to her feet. "Who's tired again?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. The child laughed nervously and smirked innocently. "Think about it." Her face fell again. "Yes, you actually have to think when you use this technique." He chuckled at his own joke while Shizu pouted. Her mentor went back to his explanation.  
"There is always some type of weak point; a chink in the armor if you prefer." He pointed to the dummy. "For example, there are areas in the wood that are more fragile than the others. Your job is to find it." Shizu's eyes widened in understanding. "The question is, how will this help out in a real battle?"  
"Oh that's easy!" Shizu exclaimed. "A person would have weak points just like the dummy!"  
"Exactly." He ruffled the child's hair to her discontent. "Which means that if you can pinpoint those, you can make up for a lack of strength with precision." Shizu's eyes brightened at the familiar skill. "And a human usually have the same weak points; pressure points that most people share…"_

* * *

Shizu listened carefully and headed in the direction of the crack. _Since the sound was there, the arm is right around here so…_a quick jab right by the shoulder caused the laughter to stop abruptly and the attacker to fall onto the ground with a thump. The relieved girl released a breath that she didn't know that she was holding, and walked briskly toward the area behind her first encounter with the man. She trod on through the seemingly endless hallway, one firm step at a time. The shakiness and fear was replaced by a coursing adrenaline that fueled Shizu's progress toward what she hoped was the exit.

_Is this never going to end?_ Her adrenaline rush had begun to settle down, so the pessimism and fear were initiating round two. Shizu had long since lost her sense of direction, and the path seemed to continue on, never ending. She walked on, panic slowly beginning to bubble up again, which she attempted to keep level at a slower rate. As she was so lost in her thoughts and emotions, Shizu didn't notice that the end of the straight road was ahead. So, she kept walking forward and was brought to her senses by the impact of the wall on her head. _Ow…stupid wall…oh wait._ She reached her hand forward and pressed it against the wall to see if it was really there, or was another illusion her mind conjured. Shizu blinked rapidly, almost blinded, and stepped back when a semi-familiar glow emitted from the stone; the first thing that she had seen in who knows how long. It illuminated the area, revealing a fork in the path. Words formed from the light as they had previously; the letters retained their bright glow as the rest of the wall dimmed. Shizu squinted at the sudden brightness to make out the message.

**A shadow always shadows another: This is your final decision on the Path of Shadow. Go right for the Path of Majority. Go left for the Path of Solitude.**

_Since when have I made any decisions in this test? ...Well, technically I decided where to go in the maze so…Whatever…_Shizu smirked with relief and walked in the direction of the right road. _No brainer. It would be nice to see someone else…or anything for that matter. Even Hisok-actually, nevermind; this is _still_ better than ending up with the creepy clown._ It was another long path. There were no twists and turns though; it was as straight as an arrow like the last path leading here, guiding her onward toward her destination. The end was another smooth wall; a dead end. _What-?_

Thinking she headed in the wrong direction, she turned back to walk towards the crossroad, only to be halted by another wall. Shizu dashed back to the dead end in a flurry of panic and began to search the wall desperately for some way past it. There were no buttons, no secret pathways; it was just a wall that refused to move. Fueled by desperation and panic, she pushed at the wall resulting in no reaction. Shizu gritted her teeth together and leaned into it with all of her weight, which was not much of a help anyway. Perhaps it was the pushing, perhaps it was not. The fact of the matter was that the wall grumbled and groaned as it slid into the ground. Shizu, surprised, tumbled into the room with a small yelp accompanied by a hissing ball of fur.

She rubbed the side of her head as she pulled herself up to a sitting position. Rakku hopped off of her shoulder and shook himself, fluffing up his fur. Muttering a soft "Ow…", Shizu blinked rapidly at the foreign sense of sight. Soon though, her eyes began to adjust to the brightness after being enveloped in dark for so long. She looked around her surroundings and blinked again in surprise. _Well this is a little _too _coincidental, but I'm not complaining._ Five people looked at the roly-poly intruder with the same surprise. "Killua, Gon…" She turned her head. "Kurapika and Leorio too…" Tompa, on the other hand, was disregarded like an annoying box-nosed fly. Shizu picked herself up off the ground and brushed off some of the dust that was clinging to her skin and clothes. _Hey, I can't sit there forever…_She protested to the small part of her brain that kept going on about how awkward it was. "Umm...Hi." Shizu pretended that her less than graceful entrance had never happened.

"How did you get here Shizu?" Gon asked curiously. Shizu pointed at the wall where the entrance once was, while smirking softly. The rest of the group face planted at the poor joke. After mentally laughing at their reactions, she actually did answer the question.

"It's a bit of a story." Shizu stretched her arms. "And we need to get to the bottom of the tower right?" Then she looked around the room and spotted the conspicuous digital timer. "Oh."

"We've still got forty-two more hours of waiting, so I think that you've got plenty of time." Killua stated dryly.

"Ha ha." Shizu stated just as dryly. Perhaps it may have been the lack of water in the maze. "Well then, you guys can tell me how you got stuck in this box room." Without waiting for an answer, she located the nearest couch and allowed her trembling legs to collapse her onto it. "Sorry. I'm beat." She smiled sheepishly at them. Rakku trotted over to Shizu and curled up onto her lap, turning himself a few times to make the position comfortable. Leorio suddenly stood up in an overdramatic pose, pointing at the black cat with a sudden realization.

"Where's your panther?! And why do you have a cat?!" Leorio shouted. _I swear, a tumbleweed just rolled past._

"You just noticed?" Shizu asked blatantly. "They're one and the same" She sighed. "Just don't question it; I know as little about it as you guys do." The explanation caused the opposite affect; just arising more curiosity. However, they dropped the topic anyway.

* * *

Time continued to crawl along, the tales had been told, the panther boot had been thrown at the perverted Leorio's head for his blunder in the tower, and the clock had not dipped beneath forty hours yet. The most challenging opponent of all had reared its ugly head; boredom. Each had their own way of coping with it. Kurapika was reading through book after book; already having gone through a noticeable portion of the shelf. Leorio was sitting in front of the television, earphones burrowed into his ears so the others wouldn't be disturbed, yawning every now and then. Tompa had seated himself in a corner to sip on his tea that was so generously provided, quietly, and wisely, hiding from those that he had already annoyed or enraged. Shizu was dangling a piece of string that she had found in front of Rakku, who watched carefully before pouncing on it like a gleeful kitten; he was still a cat, whether he could turn into a panther or not. Killua was instructing Gon on the basics of skateboarding in another corner.

Gon was balancing on the skateboard unsteadily and tried his luck at performing the same move that Killua had earlier in the exam. He pushed down onto the skateboard in hopes that it would jump into his hand. The force used to do this was too much, and sent the board flying across the room. Shizu pressed herself onto the ground just in time to avoid the speedy projectile, and watched as the object rammed into the wall; leaving a large crack in the stone. Strangely, the board was completely unharmed from the impact. The moment of silent boredom had cracked like the stone had. Leorio ripped out his earphones to scold the two boys loudly. "You can't skateboard in here!" Their faces were crestfallen, pouting like a young child's would.

"Ehh?"

* * *

However, the moment had left as soon as it had come; leaving the group to their own devices again. Nothing had changed much. Shizu now sat herself on the couch, deciding what to do to drive away the plague of boredom. Rakku had dozed off on the arm of the couch. _How am I supposed to survive for forty more hours of this?!_ Spotting another incoming object, she ducked down and was immediately rewarded with a pillow to the face. The pillow fell onto the floor with an innocent thump, leading Shizu to pick it up and toss it a few times before throwing it back at the culprits; Killua and Gon. _Challenge accepted._ They grinned and easily ducked out of the way before arming themselves with pillows from the other couches. Shizu rolled behind a couch to avoid the fluffy weapons. She smirked as she popped back out and throwing one in the boys' general vicinity. Gon caught it mid flight, and threw it at Killua, who proceeded to catch it to throw at Shizu; ending up in a speedy game that was almost like hot potato. That was until Shizu had misjudged the height of the pillow and it soared over her head to hit Leorio in the head instead.

"Hey, pipe down!" Leorio growled loudly. _Hypocrite._ The three looked at each other, smirked mischievously, and simultaneously flung pillows at Leorio. They laughed mirthfully at his enraged expression, and were joined by a chuckling Kurapika and a smirking Tompa. Leorio sighed and smiled at the children's antics.

* * *

Eventually, the even the most energetic had agreed to the delightful concept of sleep after the long day that all of them had. There were only four couches though. The older people of the group, which included Tompa, Leorio, and Kurapika, each had their own couch, while the remaining three plus the cat, which was still asleep, shared the final couch. The room was well stocked and even provided each person with their own blanket. _That's kind of creepy, since I wasn't even originally on this path…then again they have cameras everywhere._ Shizu stared into the artificial night that the dimmed lights fabricated. _I wonder what time it really is…_Her eyelids began to droop and her mind became foggier. _I wonder how Mom and Sensei are doing…They must be worried…_With her musings still floating in her head, Shizu surrendered to her weariness and let herself nod to sleep against the back of the couch. In her unconscious state, gravity had caused her head to lean toward her side and land on the shoulder of a certain white haired boy.

* * *

**First fluff in the story! Woo! Also, sorry if the last part seems a bit rushed; I was running low on ideas to write and how to write it for the penalty room thing...**

Thanks to:

Kotori-san for favoriting and reviewing!

**Seeya next week everyone!**


	8. The Tower's Dirty Tricks

**So hi! Sorry that this was uploaded a little later in the day...but it's still Saturday nonetheless! Also, sorry if the chapter is kinda eh. Fillers and such plus writers block and other excuses. Oh yeah, and more fluff :3 Cause I felt like it :P  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunter x Hunter franchise, just my OC.**

* * *

_ I lay on the cold stony road of my alleyway, too exhausted to even produce a shiver. Shaky breaths fogged the winter air in front of my dull eyes. My head was spinning and foggy. _Is this…the end…?_ Snow began to float heavily from the grey sky and land on the grey roads, the grey buildings, and forced grey people to dash for their grey homes. There was no need for color in my world; everything was in hues of grey and black. The snow was that rare palette of soft white. _This isn't a bad way to die… watching the small flakes float down to the ground…_A thin layer of snow blanketed me; tucking me in to bed. I began to close my tired eyes. Oh how tired I was; tired of enduring, tired of hanging on to nothing, tired of the weight of survival. Some of the town's children gathered at the entrance of my alleyway, whispering. A young toddler moved toward me with open curiosity; she hadn't learned to hate and despise yet. An older one_, _her brother maybe, pulled her behind him warily. They held stones and sticks in their small hands. I would have smiled if even that singular action wasn't too draining. _You can't hurt me anymore…

_"What do you think you are doing?!" A shrill voice, most likely a woman's, demanded from behind the crowd of children. My head rang from the loud sound that pierced my muddled brain. Small mumblings too faint to be heard by me attempted to explain their actions. The sounds of thumping suggested that the person had shoved the children aside. My vision was too unfocused to make out the figure that was now kneeling next to me. However, the flash of worried blue eyes jolted my grey, grey world. A numb sensation of a soft woolen fabric being draped around my shoulders made me want to flinch from the foreign contact. All I could do was lay there limply like the rag I was. But the person picked me up gently, attempting to avoid my wounds. "It's alright now." It was like someone soothing a young animal. _Which ironically fits this…_I attempted to move my lips to ask why. _Why would she help someone who was considered a demon? Didn't she know that they would hate her too? _Only a small wispy breath left my mouth. The slight rocking motion of her footsteps was her stubborn answer to my unasked question. I closed my eyes softly, letting tears of relief slide down my cheeks, cutting through the grime and dust that coated my skin. She cradled me closer in response. _She's so warm…

Shizu blinked her eyes open sleepily, making sure to wipe away the stray tear that crossed through the realm of dreams and memories. _It's been a long time since then…_She yawned and rubbed her eyes. Blinking the drowsiness away, she turned to look at the digital timer again. _…Did I really just sleep for fourteen hours?_ Shizu stared incredulously at the blinking numbers that continued its gradual countdown; 24:27. "Ah, so you're awake now." Kurapika's voice penetrated her thoughts. She looked in his direction and sweat dropped. The books from the shelf were rapidly disappearing into the mountain of literature beside him.

"Yeah…" Her voice trailed off. Turning away from the astounding sight, she looked around the room to ascertain what had happened while she was asleep. Tompa was on his couch, splayed out on it as he snored noisily. Leorio had picked up a book himself, probably salvaging it from the gradually growing mountain. He looked in her direction, waved and then proceeded to snicker. _What was that about?_ Shizu turned her head to the right, and saw Rakku lying on the arm of the couch, flicking his tail impatiently a few times, signifying that he was awake for once. _Nothing out of the ordinary…_Shizu turned her face to the left and was greeted with a sleeping Killua on her shoulder. She flinched in surprise as heat gathered at the tips of her ears. _W-why's he so close? ...And how did I just notice this…?_ Leorio snickered again which made Shizu turn and glare at him. _Argh! Even Kurapika's smirking!_ She turned to glance at the sleeping boy who was currently using her as a pillow. _What am I supposed to do in this situation?_ _Considering I've never had anyone, let alone a boy sleeping on my shoulder before…I have no idea._ She answered herself, sighing in defeat. _I'll just…let it go…we're going to need our sleep for the exams after all…_She sighed again trying to ignore the awareness of the weight on her shoulder, and proceeded to poke Rakku out of boredom. He growled at her and Shizu grinned back at him.

* * *

The six stood impatiently around the exit, glancing quickly between the timer and the sealed exit. Just a few more seconds…The digits reduced to zero and then shut off, leaving a blank screen. The stone door rumbled as it slowly dragged itself upwards. Leorio glanced at his watch timer and began to run forward. "Let's hurry!" He told the others, who immediately followed suit. The group rounded the corner and was faced with two paths. One path was a straight staircase back up, while the other set of stairs spiraled down into the tower. A sign was attached to the slim wall separating the two stairwells.

**Where to go? O to go up, X to go down**.

_ Decisions this early?_ After thinking for a moment, the five that wore the timer watches made their decision. The group raced up the stairs, knowing the short amount of time that they had left.

The stairs seemed endless, continuing to escalate upward. It was the same path of stone, heading in the complete opposite direction of where they were supposed to go. The appearance of the arch of an exit in their field of vision was relieving. When they arrived at the top and peered into the room, the older ones panting from the constant running, their faces fell. Shizu looked around confusedly, but put two and two together. _So this must have been the place where they fought the fugitives. And that means that we went in a huge circle._ Rakku twitched his tail impatiently, wanting to continue running after changing into his panther form half a day ago while in the sealed chamber. Leorio glanced at his watch again. "Running thirty minutes to come back here." He grumbled with frustration.

"We should have gone downstairs." Killua deadpanned. He sighed. "Yes, we should have gone downstairs." He repeated for emphasis.

Leorio growled and began to shout again, predictably. "Shut up! I remind you that you were satisfied with the choice we made!" Killua remained silent, mostly because Leorio's words were the truth. With Leorio's shouts ringing in their ears, they began to sprint back toward the stairways, effectively wasting another thirty minutes of their precious time. Without hesitation upon reaching their destination, the group rushed down the spiral staircase. This path only went a short way before opening up to an unvisited area. It was spacious, and the other exit was easily visible as there was nothing in the room. _And that's exactly why it's so suspicious…_Apparently the others thought the same, as they had stopped at the archway, not daring to move another step forward.

"Look! Over there!" Gon pointed at the wall on the far side of the room. An inconspicuous sign was attached to the wall, the words barely visible from where the group stood. After squinting for a bit, Shizu could make out the words.

**Can you make it to the end?**

She made an exasperated face. _Is it just taunting us?_ She stopped her mental complaints to replace it with confusion. _But there's little to no information about this place…_She was startled out of her thoughts by surprised shouts from her friends. Looking around, Shizu saw that Gon was walking into the room calmly. Her eyes widened _He's either really brave, or real idiot. Or both._ The moment his foot came into contact with the floor tile in front of him, the tile lit up as did many others, forming a path toward the exit. The group warily watched the path, but then all noticed the unlit blocks had sunk down into the ground and fell into an abyss of darkness.

"Hurry!" Kurapika snapped them out of their stupor and they all complied just as the lit block began to wobble. Gon and Killua made it to the other side in good time, with Rakku and Shizu following behind closely. Kurapika ran over to safety as the entire path began to wobble dangerously. Tompa and Leorio, still on the trembling path, panicked and sprinted as fast as they could. Leorio made his fatal error. He stumbled on a quaking block as the tile underneath him began to plummet towards the abyss. The rest of the group shouted out with alarm. Leorio scrabbled onto the next tile, hanging onto the edge. Tompa grimaced and stopped for a second to help Leorio up and the two rushed toward the end, panting. They stepped onto solid ground as the final piece gave up its trembling and crashed toward the unknown. The two stared at the space, realizing that that moment could have been their last. After making sure that everyone was alright, they continued onward through the tricks of the tower.

* * *

The group continued their run down the tower, only pausing for the occasional respite. They had strived through many traps and tricks that the tower had to offer to them and hoped that they were nearing the end. Tompa stumbled on a tile that sank into the ground. _Déjà vu. _"We should run. Now." Shizu urged them forward as a faint rumbling began to make itself heard. As the group headed down the steep slant downward, Shizu turned back to look at the approaching danger. It was a small dot that quickly grew in size as it neared them. _You have _got_ to be kidding me. Do they get their trap ideas from cliché adventure movies or something?_ The boulder gained speed on the decline and began to catch up to the six quickly. The rumblings from the rock caused the ground to tremble and the dust floating from it filled the air with a brown haze. However, just as the boulder was about to crush them, the group rounded a corner and the stone crashed into the wall; shaking the ground once more and caused dust to pervade the immediate area before going completely still. _That was close…_

The six in the group, disheveled and dusty, paused in their endeavor to reach the bottom. Leorio was the one to urge them on again. "Let's hurry! We don't have much time left." The dusty people began another jog through a hallway, but were cut off by a metal door. A sign was posted on the side:

**Door:  
O- Open  
X- Do not open.**

_ No. We just ran through enough tricks and death traps to last a lifetime just so we could say no to continue. _Shizu deadpanned while Leorio, who still had the energy to waste shouting and talking loudly, voiced his thoughts aloud. "Well! Obviously we want to open that door!" The ones with the watches submitted their choices, and the results appeared on the door. Four people had clicked to move on, but one had decided to stay.

Leorio bristled with anger and immediately turned and grabbed Tompa by the shirt. His patience snapped after enduring Tompa's attempts to infuriate the others. "You're going to stop! I'm really fed up with you!" Tompa didn't even flinch.

"Don't get so mad." The box nose said with calm indignation. "I pushed on O."

Leorio retaliated, fueled by fury and irritation. "Stop lying!" The two glared at each other, Leorio grinding his teeth furiously and Tompa staring coldly in return.

"Sorry Leorio!" Gon spoke up, piercing through the tension emanating from the glare off. "I'm the one who accidentally pushed the button." Leorio paused and released Tompa from his grip.

"Ah…" His anger began to subside to a cold exterior. "Ah, well. You were the one?" He turned toward the now open door.

"Wait a minute, Leorio." Tompa called. Leorio stopped in his tracks, waiting for what Tompa was going to say next. "You owe me an apology. I won't let this pass." He stood there waiting. _These guys are like a bomb ready to set off any minute. _Shizu and the others who weren't involved just watched silently, waiting to see where this rift would lead.

Leorio turned toward Tompa. "My suspicion is reasonable since you've been trying to sabotage our group from the beginning. I have no intention of apologizing." He said coolly. _And there's the trigger._

Tompa grinned ever so slightly. "You don't really have the right to say this kind of thing to me."

Leorio narrowed his eyes with slight confusion. "What?"

Tompa's smirk began to grow little by little. "Whose fault is it that we were immobilized for fifty hours?" Leorio flinched. Tompa had hit Leorio's verbal weak point. "You're the one that made a big mistake, not me!" Leorio's emotion was unreadable on the outside, but the anger inside of him was reaching its boiling point. Kurapika stepped out of the role of being a silent watcher.

"Enough!" Kurapika grabbed Leorio's arm and attempted to hold him back from the fight that seemed almost imminent. "Hey!" He shook Leorio's arm, but it was already too late. Leorio pushed Kurapika away and dropped his briefcase. Without a word, the two prepared to face off; Leorio pulled out a switchblade with the full intention to use it without regrets, and Tompa stepped into a basic martial arts stance. Gon quickly rushed between the two fighters, attempting to calm them down with Kurapika. Killua, getting bored of the fighting simply walked toward the open door.

"Well, I'll go on my own." He said nonchalantly. Shizu looked between the advancing Killua and the chaotic group remaining behind, staying in place indecisively. As Killua stepped into the room, he stopped with surprise. "Hey! Look at this!" He called out to the others. They turned to look at him uncomprehendingly. "The exit isn't too far away." All of the tension and anger dissolved away, leaving only the thought of the exit and escape. The rest of the group rushed into the room and was met by two more doors. _This isn't just a decision…_Shizu eyed the room warily. Many different kinds of weapons were lined up along the walls, along with three sets of chains. _Are we supposed to fight each other…?_ She turned back to the more present obstacle; the statue of a top half of a woman framing two doors marked individually with X and O. A sign underneath the woman read:

**Last Junction:  
Now is the time for your last choice. Are you ready?**

"Ready?" Leorio questioned the question with more negativity. "Well, does the question really matter?!" The five with the watches clicked in their answers. The result was the same as the question before: four to continue, and one against the majority. Leorio turned, ready to attack the box nosed old man.

"Stop it!" Kurapika snapped. "You think we have time for that kind of stuff?" Leorio was still fuming, but complied knowing that the end of the time was running out. A speaker crackled to life, originating from the statue.

"Please choose a door." The voice began the explanation of the final question. _Long explanations mean a twist…Oh crud…_"There are two paths… It trailed off, building up a small amount of suspense and wasting precious seconds. "The first allows the entire group to pass, but it is long and difficult. The other only allows three people, but it is short an easy. It's impossible, even hurrying, to exit the first road in less than forty five hours. The other path would take you less than three minutes." Shock coursed through the six people. _We have only about an hour left…that means…_Shizu looked again at the weapons in the room and turned back to the statue. "Push O for the long and difficult way. Push X for the short and easy way. If you push X, the door will open as soon as three of you have been chained to the wall. They'll have to stay here until time runs out." Another crackle signaled the end of the unsettling transmission.

They were all silent, aware that time was still slowly ticking by, but not willing to be the first to say the inevitable. Leorio was the first one to speak again. "Well…" The rest of the group focused their attention on him. "It's better to tell you this now. I'm going to select X." The dreaded words had been spoken. "Without…having any intention of staying here." Leorio was determined, but saddened by the rules of this final decision. "No matter what…I'll be one of the three that goes on." The words hung in the air, holding onto the attention of the other people. "The judges have planned everything." Leorio continued, filling the dead silence. "They prepared weapons from all over the world and from all times. Does that mean they want us to choose by fighting?" The words trailed off into silence again.

Gon interrupted the wordless moment and said with complete without a hint of doubt, "I'm going to choose O." The group looked at him in surprise. "We came here all together, so I want us to pass together."

"Gon…" Leorio said, surprised by Gon's conviction and even more saddened.

"Even if that's risky…" Gon continued. "My choice will be the same."

"Hey! That's not only risky, that's impossible." Killua pointed out. "We don't even have an hour. The short way is our only option. The question is who's going to pass. Obviously, I count on being one of them." He continued darkly. "So, if none of us have the intention of giving up…The only solution I see is by combat."

"…I'm going to have to agree with old man Killua." Shizu said hollowly. "It's impossible to make it the long way…" Her eyes flashed with determination. "But I still don't think that we should leave anyone behind after coming so far together. There might be another way, so I would pick O too…if I had a watch that is." Gon gave her a bright grin at having someone on his side, which she returned. Shizu's grin fell as she became consumed with doubt. _But will this really work? Or will we have to fight one another to escape this tower?_

* * *

**And there's another chapter done. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed reading it!**

**Thanks to:**

**Lily Thalia for following**

**Ria Risa for reviewing again :)**

**Latias876, TheActionSociety, and BLT sandwich 01 (my awesome sis :D) for following and favoriting**

**Thanks again, and have fun celebrating a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow :)**


	9. An Island in the Middle of Nowhere

**I'm not dead! Sorry I didn't post a chapter last week, but I've got one now! :) So yeah, I'm going to try not to do this again (but it probably will happen). I tend to procrastinate sometimes eheheh...Anyways, on with the story!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter, just my OCs.

* * *

Confliction reigned in the silence that ensued. _No one really wants to leave anyone behind huh…well maybe not Tompa._ Shizu smiled ruefully at the ground. No one dared to be the first to be marked as a selfish traitor. The shadows of doubt crept up on them, making wariness of the others their top priority. The solid trust built up to this point was beginning to crumble apart and drift away with the wind. Time ticked away as they stood there, uncertainty rooting them in place. Gon perked up and announced, "I think I have an idea so we can pass together!" The others looked in his direction with confusion. "If we all choose O, then we can break the wall with the weapons in the room to slip into the X path." Realization that the idea of passing together was not a lost cause was followed by a drive to fulfill the plan.

"Yes…that could work." Kurapika carefully thought about the possibilities of success.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Leorio proclaimed. The others nodded with smiles on their faces in varying degrees. The watches were clicked again for the final time, and the O pathway rumbled open. Leorio grabbed a medieval looking spiked mace and tested a swing against the stone wall. The head of the mace embedded itself in the rock, leaving a small hole when the weapon was pulled out. Hope arrived to release the uneasiness from before. The others followed his example and grabbed weapons to chip away at the wall. It was a slow process, but the thick stone was slowly broken away by the group's determination. Time proceeded onward.

* * *

"Argh!" A warning shout came from Leorio. "We're nearly out of time!" This fueled them to attempt to break the unrelenting wall at a faster rate.

"I'm through!" Killua announced. The club that he was using had made a small opening to the other side. The rest of the group began to widen the opening until it was possible for a person to squeeze through. A sudden rush of hope and realization of the little amount of time remaining caused the group to charge through the hole and into the hallway. Rushing into the hallway made them immediately trip on the smooth sloping surface and tumble down the path. After sliding down for a bit of time, they began to stabilize their rapid descent. Shizu's mouth quirked into a childish grin as the initial surprise was replaced by exhilaration. The wind whipped her hood back, but she didn't care at the moment. The moment was just too much fun to worry about anything. The speed and rush was like a rollercoaster. When the three minute ride ended as guaranteed, she was almost disappointed. She donned her hood as the adrenaline settled down and her childish personality retreated back into its corner.

Shizu had landed in the room immediately after Gon had and was surrounded by those that had already passed their exam. The amount of people in the exam had thinned exponentially, leaving probably around twenty or so left. One person even lay on the ground, unmoving and most certainly dead. _So the people that didn't make it…died?_ _There's also the chance that they just ran out of time…Why should I worry about them? I should just be glad that I made it…right?_ She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Time's up!" The loudspeaker in the room crackled to life. "Third round: Number of participants who reached the goal: 28 including one dead." The huge metal double doors swung slowly open, flooding the room with a bright, natural light. A short man with a strange haircut stood there waiting. "Follow me." The voice was clearly the same one from the loudspeakers placed in the Trick Tower. _Which means that he's one of the judges…Why are all of the judges so odd? I mean, his haircut makes his head look like a pineapple or something._ The twenty seven participants walked after the man, leaving behind the Tower and all of those who did not make it out.

A small breeze drifted in from the sea just ahead. From so high up on the roof of the tower, it would have been difficult to ascertain the surroundings of the ground below. It was a barren landscape, but the plain rock was cut off by the gentle waves coming in from the sea. In the distance, a miniscule green dot interrupted the continuous horizon of the water. _This would have been really peaceful in a different situation…and the creepy smiling on the proctor's face isn't helping._ With an unsettling grin, the judge began the explanation of his test, and true to her character, Shizu had tuned out a majority of it. One by one, the participants went up to a large box to draw lots in the order of when they arrived in the Trick Tower. _Meaning that we would be the last to draw._ She sighed. With the little amount of people left, it was already her turn before long. _220…Wonder who that is._ Once everybody had received drawn their card, the explanation had continued. _Two rounds left…draw lots, hunt down the target and get their plate, and protect your own plate all within a week. That's the gist of it. At least my plate is already hidden underneath my cloak. No one would know my number. Plus, it's better to have it on me rather than loose in my bag. _The explanation had ended quickly and the twenty seven people were herded onto a boat. _Oh, we're going on that island._

* * *

All were aboard, and suspicion and doubt had settled on most people's minds. A peppy announcer attempted to alleviate this mood. Her attempts feebly tried to break the wall of negative emotions. To spare herself from the atmosphere, she ran off to the captain's cabin for sanctuary. The ship rocked gently across the sea, causing a salty spray to spring up on occasion. The sky was a bright blue, dotted with seagulls and clouds. _This would be relaxing if everyone just quit glaring at each other._ Shizu sweat dropped at the situation. She set off to go search for Gon and Killua aboard the ship. _At least I know _they_ won't be too worried about this._ Rakku padded along, growling low in his throat in warning. Gon was sitting on the starboard edge of the boat, joined shortly by Killua. Shizu smiled and eagerly hurried over to join her friends.

They sat in silence for a bit, listening to the ocean crash on the side of the boat. "Which number did you guys draw?" Killua asked the question lingering on their minds. Shizu said nothing at all, choosing to stare thoughtfully into space.

"How about you?" Gon evaded the question.

"It's a secret." Killua immediately answered. A serious mood settled in, almost entrapping the trio in the same atmosphere as everyone else. A moment later, they all grinned at each other goofily as if wondering why they would ever be so suspicious of one another. "Don't worry. Neither of you two is my target." Killua reassured.

"And my target isn't you two either." Gon added brightly.

Shizu grinned. "Likewise."

"Show on the count of three?" Killua suggested. The other two readily agreed.

"One, two, three!" They all said together as they showed their target cards. _Killua has 199 and Gon…_The 44 on the card shone plain and clear. _He got the creepy, strong one…_Shizu gave Gon a sympathetic look.

"Seriously?" Killua said, astounded. "You have really bad luck…"

Gon chuckled nervously. "Haha, you think so too?" He turned to look at the other cards. "Hmm…Whose numbers are those?" Killua looked narrowed his eyes slightly at the topic change, but played along anyway.

"You don't know either?" He turned to Shizu. "Do you know, Shizu?" She shook her head, and he sighed. "I don't know yours either. Tch." He leaned back against the side of the boat and continued talking. Unfortunately for him, neither was listening. Gon was thinking deeply about his predicament, while Shizu had her attention diverted. A cloaked man had walked past, the number 220 displayed proudly for all to see. Bright golden hair stuck out from underneath his hood, and a cheeky smirk told him apart from the other worried participants. _Nah…he can't be…_

_ A gentle hand touched my shoulder reassuringly, damming the flow of tears racing down my face. Spiky blond hair stuck out on his head and confident amber eyes gleamed. I looked at the twelve year old with surprise and admiration. He wiped away my remaining tears and grinned cheekily. "Don't worry! I'll be your onii-chan from now on and protect you!" I nodded enthusiastically, my four year old self giving him a huge hug._

Shizu frowned. _That was seven years ago though…and he stopped coming to see me after a few years…So he can't be here right now _and_ be my target as well…That's just impossible…right?_ The thought continued to persist through her mind, no matter how much Shizu wanted to stop over thinking it. _Because there's that slim chance that it really could be…_She attempted to block it from her mind again as she began to engage in conversation with Killua and Gon as the boat proceeded its slow, rocking voyage to the site of the next exam.

* * *

The ship slowed to a stop near the edge of the island, bobbing with the waves. Upon closer inspection, the island was covered with an expanse of vegetation. Tall trees shaded the majority of the land with vines entangling each other in curtains, providing for an interesting round of predator and prey. Edible and poisonous plants grew together in a tangle of greenery, barely distinguishable from one another. The island itself was not too large, but was woven so thickly with the vegetation that it would be difficult to find a single person on the land nonetheless. The chirps of birds and yips of small animals signaled the prescence of other beings during the exam. Crewmates dragged a wooden bridge, closing the gap between the two worlds; the human one and the wilderness of the island. The woman that spoke to them earlier very nearly skipped onto the deck of the ship with a renewed smile. She called for everyone's attention in order to clarify a few points before sending them off.

A large yawn threatened to emerge from Shizu as she tried to listen to the instructions being given by the announcer. Very soon, Shizu's attention had drifted off again. _Umm…she said something about staying on the island for a week…right? _The announcer began to send the participants off one by one in the same order as when they picked their targets. Killua waved to his friends before disappearing into the jungle. Soon after, Gon cheerfully waved before he too set off. Shizu shifted impatiently on the wooden platform, counting the seconds before she was allowed to hunt down her target. She rubbed the fur along Rakku's head; the panther standing next to her flicking his tail from time to time. _There's no reason to ride him this time. Thankfully, there's no real need for endurance this time. _She sighed in relief. The announcer called for the allowance of the next participant. Shizu turned to give Kurapika and Leorio a half wave before running lightly across the wooden bridge with Rakku by her side. After the boat and the few remaining participants left Shizu's sights, she exchanged a look with Rakku and pointed up at a tree. Understanding the motion, the two hopped up onto a branch to plan for the course of the week.

_ It's going to be difficult to find him since he was one of the first…was it after Hisoka or after the weird needle guy…?_ She shook her head to keep her mind focused. _Anyway, it'll take time to track him down, so the first priority would be to find a source of water._ "Let's keep to the trees." Shizu murmured to the panther. With that, they hopped onto nearby branches, proceeding as silently as possible. The sound of trickling water caused her to turn her head, catching the glare of the sun on the water's surface. She looked carefully around the surroundings before landing on the ground still cautiously alert for any trace of a predator, be it human or animal. She dipped her hands into the stream, letting the cool water run along it. Shizu cupped it and let the liquid run down her throat. _Looks like water won't be a problem._ A sudden crunching sound from the nearby underbrush caused her and Rakku to immediately jump into the cover of the trees. A figure loomed in the shadows of the trees and hesitated before venturing out to the stream as well. _Darn it. Not him. Well, that would have been too easy anyway…_Shizu disappointedly continued deeper into the jungle with Rakku.

* * *

She sighed noiselessly. _How am I supposed to find one person in this freaking jungle?! I haven't seen a single person after the stream, let alone the person I'm supposed to find!_ Her mind raged with frustration. The sun was lowering toward the horizon casting an orange film over the sky. _It would've been unlikely to find my target within a few hours…but it would've been nice if that happened._ She leaned back against the tree she was sitting in, pieces of bark coming off of the trunk to cling to her cloak. Rakku settled down on a separate branch, waiting for when they would have to move again. Shizu scanned the surroundings. A brown color quite unlike the other colors of the jungle caught her eye. She signaled to Rakku to stay put and she jumped out of the branch and hunted for the color. _A piece of fabric?_ The fabric gripped the tree, caught on the small branches. _It's the same color as my target's cloak!_ She picked up the fabric. _Huh…seems like it's made of the same material as my cloak too…_Before a person could spot her, she climbed back to her branch. _Hopefully it's the right person…_

"Hey, do you think you could track this guy down?" She asked Rakku. He raised his head, ears perked at the change of pace. Glad to end the monotony of searching through the jungle, he sniffed at the cloth after Shizu hopped onto his branch. Rakku raised his head, tasting the scents on the air. Finding a trace of a scent, he leapt onto the ground to investigate it further. He followed the smell, looking back occasionally to check if Shizu was following. The scent was weak though, and Rakku had to stop frequently to check for signs of the smell that were still lingering. It wasn't long before the sun's rays had given up the struggle to light the sky and faded away to be replaced by the black curtain of night. Thinking that it would be best to rest rather than to find the target and be out of energy, they found a clearing near the scent that was still decently covered by foliage. Rakku curled up to sleep while Shizu kept watch next to him. She remained alert, but looked to the sky and thought.

The sky was a soft blanket of darkness, lit up by the brilliance of thousands of bright stars. _The stars look so much brighter here than they ever have in human civilization…_The moon was just a sliver of silver, like the slit of an opening door. _A moment of tranquility before the stress of the stealing of the plate…Thinking of which, how am I supposed to do that? Once I find him, I actually have to have a way of _taking_ the thing._ Shizu face palmed at realizing that she had forgotten such an important thing. _Well, he had left pretty early, meaning that he was able to finish the Trick Tower quickly, meaning that he's most likely strong. A head on attack is a terrible idea…but the plan doesn't have to be extremely elaborate to work…_She tapped her chin thoughtfully. _How about I just distract him and then grab the plate quickly? But he could be extremely fast too and catch on to what I'm doing…Well a good solution is to find a way to immobilize him…but how?_ A yawn caught in her throat and drowsiness caused her mind to blur. _I still have six days left…I'll just sleep on it. _She shook Rakku awake and lay against his warm fur. Shizu allowed her heavy eyelids to close and her mind to wander. _An excited voice of a young girl echoing from the distant past, "Leon onii-chan!"_

* * *

**So there's another one done! And on to the corner of thanks!**

Thanks to...

**Ogure Michiyo and xiannu007 for following**

**Melissa Fairy for favoriting**

**Ria Risa ( :) ), Nispedana (twice), and OkitaRin for reviewing**

**Also, as a partial response to Nispedana and an overall note: Yeah, this story IS going to be following the canon pretty closely (if it isn't obvious enough). It's mostly to practice the whole writing things with a proper deadline since I'm pretty bad at that *ahem last week ahem* and to make up for times when I have writer's block. I'd have no reason to have no ideas most of the time, which helps with the procrastination thing too. I'm going to try my best at making more original stories eventually, so that's a thing!**

**Hope you enjoyed and seeya next week! Here's hopes that you guys will be sticking with me for the rest of the story! :) Now...it's like 2am and I'm going to go and collapse on my bed now xD.**


	10. More Flashbacks and an Idiot Brother

**Funny how I said that this was to help stop procrastination and then I don't update for like two weeks...Uhh sorry? Meant to update before 12 am too...that didn't happen either...Well I do have a reason, but doesn't everyone always? Anyway, I didn't update since I was at AnimeNext this year! It was my first convention ever and really cool! There, now you have a reason. And now I shall retreat to my corner in guilt. Hope you enjoy the chapter nonetheless and forgive this sorry excuse of a writer!**

**Disclaimer: I lay no claim on the ownership of Hunter x Hunter**

* * *

_ My bare feet tapped on the cold tiled floor as I hurried toward my room, hoping to escape meeting the visitors before they even arrived. _Please, please, please. I don't want to see other people…_A gust of wind blew at me. I shivered from the numbing cold and pulled at the hem of my unnecessarily frilly dress, willing it to lengthen. A sudden realization rooted me to the spot. _That means that the door is open…and I can't get to the stairs without them seeing me…_I pressed myself against the wall and crept slowly toward the entrance. Poking my small head from behind the wall, I saw two people standing at the entranceway talking to my mom. _Oh no, oh no! They're already here!_ As luck would have it, my mom noticed me hiding and motioned for me to come over and greet them. _I can't remember anything from those few etiquette lessons!_ My mind was spinning in a frenzied panic. _Are these people like them? Are they kind like Mom? Is it too late to run away now? _"Amaya, it's okay." My mom attempted to coax me out of hiding. I didn't react. The name sounded foreign, and not my own. "No one's going to hurt you." _I trust Mom though, so…_I tentatively left the safety that was the wall and slowly stepped in front of the guests, twiddling my fingers behind my back._

_ "Phillip, this is my newly adopted daughter Amaya." Mom gestured to me as she introduced me. I might have said a greeting, but it was soon lost in the breeze that blew softly inside from the still open doorway. The bald man in an expensive looking suit, _Phillip I think_ looked at me with a cold and calculating expression. I flinched inwardly, but tried to keep my feelings inside like I was taught. _His eyes are scary…_His eyes were like a hawk, sharp and a grayish blue. He stood stoically in the silence that the other two seemed to disregard. His eyes lingered on the multitude of wounds and cuts on my face and arms then locked onto my eyes. I looked down immediately._

_ "Sayomi," Phillip began with a gravelly monotone. "Why have you chosen someone like her to be a part of your family? Especially with that face covered with scratches. Disgraceful! You should be ashamed!" His voice rose in intensity as he glared harder at me. The words were like a slap to the face. _This always seems to happen. Why, why, why?_ Tears broke through my flimsy barrier that blocked my emotions and blurred my vision. They spilled over, warm on my cheeks but quickly cooled as I sprinted out the door and into the garden to put myself back together. The grass crunched below my feet loudly, some clinging onto them as they ran as far as they could. It wasn't far at all. I was sobbing loudly, knowing that they could no longer hear me from here, and panting from the brief run. I collapsed onto the ground and curled up, putting my head in my arms to block everything out. Memories of all of the townspeople, eyes darkened with hatred toward me jumbled around inside my head, reignited from the similar treatment that I had received._

_ "Hello there, little one!" A friendly, unfamiliar voice had appeared from nowhere in my perspective. I started, nearly falling onto my side as I looked up with caution. _It was the person who came with that man…_He plopped down next to me on the grass. While not looking at him from so far away, he looked like the complete opposite of Phillip. He was only a young boy and had eyes that exuded warmth and kindness. My tear ducts refused to stem their streams, and the boy sighed. "I know that my uncle's a little…harsh, but he's alright once you can read underneath his rude remarks." I said nothing. "In a way…you could say that the more worried or the more he cares, the ruder and meaner he seems to everyone." He smiled softly. "He was worried about you, little one. He was worried about your wounds, and about how you would cope with the change since you got adopted into the family. And those last few remarks were him saying for you to take care of yourself. Unbelievable how many kids he made cry, when all he did was try to cover up his awkwardly shy nature around them." He shrugged his shoulders with a disappointed sigh. I looked at him attentively, the tears slowing, but with me still attempting to feel sorry for myself. _He…talks a lot…

_ "You don't talk much do you?" He asked. As an answer, he received silence and soft sniffles. "I don't know…Amaya doesn't really seem to suit you…" He put his finger to his chin thoughtfully. "How about Shizuka? It seems to fit better at any rate." _Shizuka…that sounds nice…in a way…_I smiled a bit. "Aha! You smiled!" He shouted triumphantly. "Well Shizuka's kind of a mouthful, so I'll just call you Shizu!" The boy grinned. "My name's Leon by the way!" I smiled a little wider. My tears were finally drying and I was piecing myself back together again. Leon put his finger to his chin again, but more seriously. "I…heard about what happened to you. Is it really true?" I stiffened and felt the memories begin to jab at me, once again leaking tears on my cheeks. I gave him a shaky nod knowing that I should answer a question like this._ I'm acting pretty stupid right now haha…_I hastily attempted to wipe away the streams of water on my cheeks._

_ A gentle hand touched my shoulder reassuringly, damming the flow of tears racing down my face. Spiky blond hair stuck out on his head and confident amber eyes gleamed. I looked at the twelve year old with surprise and admiration. He wiped away my remaining tears and grinned cheekily. "Don't worry! I'll be your onii-chan from now on and protect you!" I nodded enthusiastically, my four year old self giving him a huge hug._ _There was just something that I could trust about him._

* * *

Something prodded Shizu, forcing her out of her dream and back into reality. The warm feeling faded away, fragments of the feelings still lingering here and there. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. The moon had lowered, leaving shades of lighter blue mixing with the blackness of the sky. However the moon's rays still allowed its gentle glow to wash over the island. Shadows remained dark and mysterious, but slowly surrendering to the approach of the rising sun. A breeze danced, rustling the trees in accompaniment with the soft chirps of waking birds. _Dawn is coming…we should go soon._ However, Shizu sat in the clearing, watchful for any predators. _I'll just let Rakku sleep for a bit before he has to work on that scent again. _She waited until a slight pink tinge began to paint the sky before shaking the panther awake. "Sorry, but we've got to get going." Shizu picked up the fabric on the ground where she had left it before falling asleep and stood up. "Ready?" Rakku grumbled his agreement, slightly annoyed at being woken up. He stretched for a bit and set off in search of the scent that had faded slightly overnight. Rakku picked it up soon enough, and the two were back on the hunt.

The undergrowth grew thicker the further they followed the scent. The plant life tripped Shizu at every step. Rakku padded along, stopping occasionally to wait for Shizu who was constantly battling the tangles of vines and fluttering insects. He twitched his tail in amusement as he watched her struggling along the path that was so easy for him to navigate. "Oh shush you." Shizu grumbled at the panther, which gave a rumbling purr and proceeded along the path that only he knew. She shook the leaves off of her cloak and sighed before following after him.

* * *

The sun shone brightly from its perch in the sky. It had risen high up, chasing away the moon and the pale dawn. Shizu sighed as the two rested on a large rock next to a trickling brook. She cupped her hands around some water and let the liquid run down her parched throat. Rakku lapped up the water tiredly. He circled a few times on the rock and curled up for a nap, refusing to budge. Shizu knew better than to attempt to wake him up. _He was tracking the guy for hours on end anyways…_She looked around the area. _It's funny that we've met so few people too…just that one guy in the beginning._ Finding no one, she just shook her head. _Well it _is_ a pretty large island after all…_She stretched her arms. Her stomach growled faintly. _Right, food is a thing. _Being sure not to stray far from the rock, Shizu followed the water along the edge of the jungle surrounding them to search for edible foods. She spotted a squirrel nibbling on some dark blue berries from a nearby bush. _Food; check. _She walked quietly, putting as little weight on the ground as possible so as not to alert the squirrel. _Sorry little guy, but I have a meat eating cat as a friend._ Shizu slipped her dagger from its sheath and deftly threw it at the creature. It perked its ears up in alarm and prepared to scamper away, but it was too late. The blade found its mark and the squirrel fell to the ground with a small squeak.

Shizu picked the small berries, popping a few into her mouth. _Mmm, these are pretty sweet._ She gathered some more into her pouch and pulled her dagger out of the squirrel's body. The dagger was stained with blood, so she washed it in the stream until it glistened free of red spots. She returned it to its sheath and grabbed the squirrel by the tail, grimacing a little at the corpse. _What did I expect? Pristine cuts of steak on a plate? _Sighing, Shizu trudged back along the stream. Rakku was already awake by the time that she had returned to the rock. His eyes brightened at the prospect of a food, no matter how little it was. They consumed their food quickly, Shizu leaving some berries in her pouch just in case, and drank from the stream again before continuing on with their search.

* * *

The moon had overtaken the sun once again, but the two didn't stop. _We're definitely close to finding him. _The moon was bright, giving everything a pale silver tint. _We can still see perfectly, so we can't just waste this time…_Rakku stopped in his tracks and tensed up with his fur bristling. Shizu immediately halted. _So he's nearby then._ She stealthily slipped through the undergrowth as quietly as possible. _There!_ Her target was leaning against a tree in a small clearing, apparently sleeping. His plate glinted slightly in the moonlight. _This is perfect! Still need to be careful, since he could wake up at any moment. _She silently walked across the grassy clearing and up to her target carefully in case he would suddenly wake up and attack. There was no movement, just the slow heavy breathing that indicated that he was still asleep. Shizu kneeled next to the resting person and carefully unpinned the badge. The circle fell into her hand and she grinned. _Well since he's asleep, now would be a good time to figure out if he's really…_She sneaked a peek at his face and widened her eyes slightly. _It really is Leon onii-chan. _Shizu frowned when she saw a hint of a smile on his face. "You really just let me take it…idiot onii-chan…" She whispered softly before shrouding herself into the shadows of the jungle and regrouping with Rakku.

* * *

She sat under a tree, twirling the 220 plate on her finger and sighed. _That stupid onii-chan. He didn't even _try_ to stop me. I shouldn't complain but…_Shizu stopped spinning the disc and slipped it into her pouch. _It's just so frustrating!_ She frowned, but picked herself up off of the ground. _Well now I just need to stay hidden for five days. _She gestured for Rakku that they were going to get going, and he followed after her as she tried to find a good place to stay. _Or I could just wander around for five days. I mean I've barely seen anyone anyways. _She smiled wryly. _Sure, why not._ _Then we'd still need somewhere to sleep for the night._ Her mouth stretched wide in a huge yawn. _Ah…I didn't realize how tired I was… _Shizu scanned the area in hopes of finding an adequate place before either one of the two were too tired to do so. "You okay with sleeping in a tree today?" Rakku huffed, as sleeping in such a high and uncomfortable place was not one of his personal favorite things to do. "I don't look forward to it either. But it'll have to do."

Rakku bounded upward, disappearing into the leaf covered branches. "Thanks for waiting Rakku." Shizu grumbled good-naturedly. She hopped up the sturdy branches until she found one that was covered with a thick roof of leaves. Soft moonlight streamed through gaps of the dark greenery, lighting the interior with a dim glow mixed with the shadows of the canopy. Shizu laid her back against the trunk and watched the canopy of leaves shimmer silver. A breeze had begun to pick up, slow and peaceful. _If I could just freeze this moment right now, I would._ She yawned again and closed her eyes contentedly. The trees whispered to each other in the breeze, undisturbed by the two eavesdroppers that listened to the exchanges in the branches. "Night, Rakku…" Shizu murmured sleepily. A purr emanated from nearby. The response was lost on her as she drifted steadily into unconsciousness.

* * *

_I stood stiffly by the door, watching each person step into the house. My face was a mask of indifference in the endeavor to fend off a scowl. _Why Mom? I just wanted a quiet celebration for my birthday…these people either look at me like I'm a kitten that needs to be cooed over or a mutated duck to show disgust toward. _My mom gave me a warning look when my expression began to droop in frustration. I immediately went back to my impassive mask, but sighed on the inside. A familiar pair of figures entered and my eyes widened in surprise. A smile sneaked onto my face and I immediately hugged one. "Onii-chan! I thought you said that you weren't coming!" I clung to the ambushed Leon. "Hi Uncle!" I added quickly to the amused older man._

_ Leon petted my head and smiled brightly. "Now why wouldn't I come to my _adorable_ little sister's eighth birthday?" My smile widened. "Uh...can you let go? I can't really breathe." He made an exaggerated gesture. I laughed and released him. "Phew! For a little kid, you can really cling like a squid if you wanted to."_

_ "I'm not a squid!" I pouted indignantly. He chuckled again, but stopped mid laugh to notice a large burn stretching across my arm. "Huh? Oh it's alright!" I immediately attempted to reassure Leon. "It's like Mom said. If I can't remember how it happened, it can't have been that bad in the first place!" He furrowed his eyebrows in a frown. A dark look of realization flitted across his face and was quickly replaced with a forced smile. _What's there to be realized anyway?_ I shot Leon a questioning look._

_ "Well, I guess you're alright then." He turned to my mom. "Is it alright if I steal the princess away from the show for a bit?" His tone was lighthearted, yet there was a slight sense of wariness to it that left me more confused than ever. Mom narrowed her eyes slightly, but nodded. I looked between the two, wondering what this silent exchange was all about. _If they wanted to tell me, they would…I guess…But I want to know so bad…_Leon poked me on the forehead lightly. "Come on then little one. How about we try to sneak some cookies from the kitchen." He guided me in the direction of the kitchens without a response. I gave him another confused look, but pushed it from my mind. _If it's that important, one of them would tell me._ We snuck into the kitchen but were immediately caught and berated by the chef. Despite the scolding, I began to laugh a bit at the wounded puppy expression that Leon wore and the carefree misadventures that we were having. Leon was the one to shoot me a confused look this time, but softened his expression into a smile; a real one this time. The chef sighed and smirked slightly. She pointedly turned the other way, allowing us to take some of the desserts for the party and wrap them up inside a cloth._

_ "Thank you!" I called behind me, receiving a chuckle in return. Leon and I ran outside into the garden where we had first talked, and spread out the slightly squashed pastries on the fabric to create a small picnic. We ate the delicious food quickly and began our usual game of pretend; this time being secret agents avoiding the guests on our top secret mission. We both overacted and made complete fools of ourselves, laughing at the confused faces of the attendees silently when we just narrowly escape their view._

* * *

_ The day ended too quickly though, the sun seeming to lower more quickly than usual. "Do you really have to go already onii-chan?" I asked sadly. The few remaining guests trickled away muttering a stiff good bye to me as they passed. He ruffled my hair again with a grin. "Hey!" I pushed his hand away in protest. My hair puffed up and I hurried to smooth it down again._

_ "It's alright. I'll see you again real soon, ok?" I nodded, still somewhat upset that he had to go. "Until then, take care of yourself." Again, there was an undertone of real worry and wariness._

_ "Wait a second…what do you mean?" Curiosity finally got the better of me. Leon shook his head._

_ "I'll explain it to you when you're a bit older." I pouted at that. He chuckled at my childishness. "Well I have to go now. Uncle's getting pretty impatient." Indeed, Phillip was looking between our conversation and their car, then at his watch. I giggled a bit. _He's still too shy to come over and just _ask_ onii-chan to hurry up.

_"Ok…I'll see you, onii-chan!" I hugged Leon in farewell and watched as he and Phillip left, waving heartily. My mom ushered me back inside before their car had driven away, leaving me confused again. _Did onii-chan do something wrong?_ I was about to ask when I noticed the face that she was making. It was hardened into an unfeeling mask of cold anger. I shivered slightly and didn't protest when she told me that it was time to go to sleep._

* * *

The sudden loud rustling of leaves immediately alerted Shizu. She jolted awake and saw a flash of metal headed in her direction. _What the-?!_ "Rakku! Move!" She called to the still slumbering panther. Sensing the alarm, he woke and leaped out of the tree. Shizu ducked just before the blade could cut her and clambered down the tree as fast as she could. On the last branch, she stumbled and fell to the ground. _Crud! I don't have time for this!_ Rakku waited beside her, growling. She picked herself up, but her attacker had already landed next to her. Cold teal eyes stared at her as the attacker readied her weapon for another blow. _A scythe?! How does no one notice someone carrying a scythe of all things?!_ The assailant tossed her strangely blue pigtails back. She grinned maliciously, sending a slight shudder down Shizu's back.

"So you're not dead yet? Make this fun for me, little girl." The adversary spun her scythe, causing it to glint sharply in the rising sun. Knowing that there was no way she could run now, Shizu readied herself in a defensive position with her hand hovering over her dagger sheath. She mentally groaned. _Worst wakeup call ever._

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**So that's a wrap! Thanks for reading, and I'm going to apologize yet again for it being so late. (I'll stop now before I get too annoying) Yeah, later on I might just do a time skip for the rest of the island since it's four more entire days. So, no more notes that I can think of at the moment!**

**Thanks to:**

**Lani0108, yuri okumora, DrHooveMD, and Mikkola for following**

**bbymojo, and Lani0108 for favoriting**

**anime lover for reviewing**

**Thanks a whole lot and hopefully, just hopefully, I can be on time for the next chapter! See you soon!**


	11. A Waltz with Death and the Past

**So hi! Umm...I don't know what to say...At least I got the update out on a Saturday haha...  
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter X Hunter**

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The huge blade sliced forward, leaving Shizu only a fraction of a second to duck before her head would have been caught by the blade. It lodged itself into a tree, then immediately sliced it cleanly in two. _That's…a thing…_With more speed than could have seemed possible, the attacker rushed forward, using the force of the first strike to add more power behind her next attack. Shizu rolled toward her and aimed for a pressure point on the neck. Her opponent saw through the attack easily and moved her body out of the way, then counterattacked with a knee to the stomach. Shizu gasped and bit her lip to stop her from screaming out. _This person…is _really _strong._ Her adversary grabbed her by the shirt and lifted her off the ground. "You're more boring than I had thought." The girl sighed, and then tightened her grip on Shizu. "I wonder if you're more interesting when you scream." Shizu shuddered again and attempted to break free from the grip. The attacker giggled at the efforts and brought her scythe toward Shizu's face, which gleamed cruelly.

An angry roar erupted from nearby, and Rakku leaped onto the attacker. The weight of the panther forced the girl to let go of her captive and fend off the shadow of claws and teeth. She threw Rakku off of her and into a tree, where he fell painfully to the ground. He attempted to get up again, but whined a pained sound when he put pressure on his right foreleg. Shizu made a small motion for him to stay down. _I can't risk it if he has a broken leg or something from the blow. _Shizu's opponent headed for her again, seeming unfazed but having sustained a multitude of wounds on any exposed skin along with tearing her clothes. She spun the scythe and stopped for a brief moment before breaking into a sprint. Shizu pulled out her dagger to deflect the attack in time, but the scythe broke her knife as if it was nothing but brittle glass. The blade fell to the ground with a soft thump. Shizu tossed the hilt beside it and used the moment to counterattack. She feigned a kick to the knee and then aimed for the neck again. Her opponent smirked and caught the hand easily. Shizu allowed herself a small triumphant smile. The girl widened her blue eyes in surprise. Shizu's other hand had hit her in the shoulder, dislocating it, while the first hand served as a diversion.

The triumph was not long lived. The girl smirked slightly and threw Shizu into a tree. The impact effectively winded her, but she got up painfully to her knees gasping for breath. Her opponent nonchalantly reconnected her shoulder without a single twinge of any kind of discomfort. Then, she immediately rushed at Shizu, taking advantage of the situation. _Move it, me!_ Shizu forced her protesting body to roll out of the way, then staggering to her feet. The scythe was swinging toward her again, but she had anticipated it this time and sprinted at her attacker. Shizu rushed in to hit her before jumping back to avoid any counterattack. The girl had an unsettling grin on her face as if savoring every moment of the fight. Then, she ran so quickly that she would have seemed to have disappeared in the eyes of normal people. _Good thing I'm not normal then. _Shizu had seen the path that her opponent had taken, even if only slightly. She turned around, and twisted the attacker's wrist so that she would drop the scythe before the said scythe could slice Shizu in two.

"Not bad, not bad…" The girl chuckled. Before she could realize what was happening, Shizu was punched with enough force to send her flying backwards. She landed on her feet clumsily and attempted to refocus her spinning mind. She saw a blurry figure heading in her direction and dodged to the side. She heard a loud crunch, meaning that the attack had hit a tree and potentially have punched it to pieces. Shizu shook her head and squinted, her vision finally clearing. A battered tree bent in half where a punch had splintered it. _Yup. It was punched into pieces. Well…two pieces anyway…_A realization hit her then. _Wait…where did she go?_ She looked at her surroundings warily, watching for a glimpse of her opponent. _Crud…this is bad…_"Behind you." A voice sang. A sharp blow to the back of her head sent Shizu stumbling forward and seeing stars again. She spun and attempted to counterattack, but it was slow and sluggish. The girl just sighed in disappointment and knocked Shizu onto the ground. Rakku made a move to get up, but Shizu glared in his direction and shook her head. His tail twitched in irritation, but he stayed put.

Shizu tried to make out her surroundings as her vision slowly reverted back to normal. A small glint in the grass beside her caught her eye. She looked to where her attacker was and reached out toward the glint as discreetly as possible. To hide the movement even better, she pretended to be reaching out for a firm grip on the ground to pull herself back onto her feet. Shizu stumbled on her trembling legs. _Well, crashing against a tree and losing your balance several times will do that to you…_She clutched the object in her hand, not visible to her opponent while held behind her cloak. She ignored the slicing pain in her palm which was followed by a warm liquid running down it. _Wait for it Shizu…_The girl advanced slowly, as if speed wouldn't matter against such a discombobulated adversary. Shizu gritted her teeth from the anticipation and the cutting feeling in her hand. _Wait for it…_Her opponent was only a few feet away now. Shizu dashed forward and plunged the broken blade of her dagger into her adversary's arm. Blood streamed down from the wound, the girl's mouth open in surprise.

Shizu's opponent smiled her unsettling grin again and quickly pulled Shizu into a headlock. The opponent wrenched the blade from her arm, making the blood flow even more heavily, and pinned the knife blade against Shizu's neck. _So…this is it?_ Shizu closed her eyes, feeling the cold metal, still sticky with blood, press against her neck. _I…have to get away…but I…can't move…_The pressure of the headlock and the blade lifted, leaving Shizu relieved and confused. Her legs gave way and she collapsed onto the ground. "You pass." The girl smiled amiably. Shizu blinked. _Is everyone taking this test _this_ weird?_

"Wait a second…what?" Shizu said weakly. She watched as the girl dusted herself off and picked up her fallen scythe.

Her opponent went on as if she didn't hear Shizu. "I'm Risa by the way. I'll see you around." Risa examined her torn, foreign looking clothing one last time before walking off into the jungle, oblivious to the questions that Shizu was trying to ask. Risa gave Shizu another friendly smile before disappearing completely. _Well…that happened…_Shizu thought for a moment, then shook the fight out of her mind so that she could tend to Rakku. She staggered over to the still irate panther and checked his foreleg.

"Looks like it's not broken at any rate." She prodded his paw gently, pausing whenever Rakku made any pained sounds. She pulled out her pouch and rummaged through the contents. She pulled out a roll of bandages and wrapped up the leg tightly. "Try not to put too much weight on it." Shizu warned Rakku. He grunted but curled up to take a nap. Shizu sighed but tended to her own wounds as well. _Hmm, the only major wound that I have is that cut on my hand. Otherwise, I'm just sore and dizzy. Probably._ _I'd hate to think how bad my wounds would be if I hadn't been able to dodge that scythe. _Shizu shuddered at the thought, but shook her head to clear her head. _It's over, and I'm alive. So…whatever. _She bandaged her hand and threw the roll back into her pouch. _I should probably wash the wound…but that's just too much effort. _She replaced the pouch back on her person as a wave of dizziness passed over her. _Maybe a nap will help…_Shizu yawned and leaned against the tree next to Rakku. A mixture of drowsiness and wooziness overtook her and she closed her heavy eyelids to the bright sunshine.

* * *

_"What do you mean Leon onii-chan isn't coming back?" I pestered my mom, distraught with the news. My patience had finally waned and I had questioned my mom when Leon would come to visit. I followed after her as she tried to walk away to avoid any questions after passing on the news._

_ My mom turned around and snapped. "He isn't coming back, Amaya!" I started, surprised by the reaction. She immediately softened her expression and kneeled next to me. "Leon made some mistakes and…isn't welcome here anymore." I was even more confused by what she had meant, but the look in her eye…That steely look of authority stopped me from annoying her any further. I nodded and retreated to the garden. _You said that you'd see me again soon…_I sniffed, but forced myself not to cry. _He said that he'd protect me too…_I shook my head to clear out these childish thoughts._ But it's about time I protected myself.I'm old enough to protect myself…I mean, I'm nine now! But Mom is still keeping me in the house like a kid._ My mind was stumped when it came to deciding how to prove that I was capable enough. There wasn't much that a nine year old could possibly do. _I mean, I've had training and all, but what can I do...?_ It hit me after a moment's thought. _Mom was a hunter once, so if I became a hunter, then she would surely think that I was able to care for myself. _My mind tried to recall every little detail that my mom had told me about being a hunter. _I…have to take some sort of test…somewhere…_ I sighed to myself. _I have time._ I hopped onto the computer and searched up information on the hunter's exam using the all knowing internet. _Just you watch Leon onii-chan; I'm going to be strong enough to go and visit _you_ this time. And maybe then, you'll tell me why this happened. _This was something that I had to do. _Sorry Mom…but your little girl's growing up.

* * *

A poke jabbed Shizu on the cheek, causing her to grumble in discomfort and sit up promptly. This resulted in her hitting her head on something and two mutters of pain. She rubbed her forehead and cracked open an eyelid to search for the disruption to her sleep, taking a bit of time searching through the darkness of the night. "What was that for, old man?"

Killua sighed with slight irritation. "You're the one that sat up, midget." Shizu scowled at him but leaned back against the tree, still too sore to waste the energy to fight. "You're pretty beat up, huh." Killua said as he sat next to Shizu. The statement was clearly a question within a comment.

Shizu ignored it. "Yup. So how'd you get here?"

"I walked." Killua smirked. Shizu glared at him and raised an eyebrow. He returned the gaze steadily. A fleeting memory of Killua sleeping peacefully on Shizu's shoulder ran through her mind. She hastily turned around so Killua wouldn't see the red gathering in her cheeks. _Calm down Shizu...You're only blushing since he was the first person to ever do that. _The quiet mental scolding helped to settle the heat and return her to her normal color.

"If I elaborate, will you?" Shizu turned back around again when she felt certain that the redness had completely gone. Killua seemed to contemplate it slowly, as if to purposefully annoy Shizu, then shrugged and nodded. "Right." Shizu sat herself in a more upright position against the tree. "It all started long, long ago in a place far, far away…" She grinned at the exasperated look on Killua's face. "Fine fine," She shrugged. "Be a killjoy and choose the more boring version." Shizu put on a more serious face. "Short story even shorter, the person after my plate was pretty strong. I did manage to protect my plate in the end…kind of."

"Kind of?" Killua questioned.

"Well, she was capable of killing me and taking my plate at the very end. I mean, there was a knife to my throat and everything." She frowned. "Then, she just let me go. Something about me passing something or another, and just up and left…Honestly…I haven't really done anything on my own." Shizu gave a small hollow laugh. She shook her head. "Anyways, how'd you end up here?"

Killua gave her a strange look, but answered the question anyways. "My target was one of those…Umori brothers. I took his plate and walked away. I found you and Rakku. You weren't exactly well hidden." Shizu nodded, then sat back in thoughtfulness.

"Now what?" She mused. "I know that I'm not being sought after, and I'm pretty sure that everyone will stay away from the creepy old man."

"Now I'm a creepy old man?" Killua asked, half incredulous, and half amused.

"Hey, it fit in context." Shizu shrugged. "Oh yeah I forgot to mention, but you do notice the guy that was trying to sneak up on us this entire time right?" A sudden crunch of leaves followed her nonchalant statement.

"I've noticed him for a while now. And? It's not like he can actually do anything against us." A glint of metal in the moonlight headed toward them, but landed a ways from its intended target.

"Now this guy's kind of an idiot for thinking that we would just waltz into the path of a knife." Shizu stood up and stretched her aching limbs. She picked up the knife and examined it. "Although, this isn't too bad of a knife…How about I go and thank him properly?" Without waiting for an answer, she darted into the bushes and promptly jabbed the attacker in the stomach followed by a kick to the small of the back. The person fell painfully to the ground. Feeling a little sorry for him, Shizu hit his neck, knocking him out immediately. _I just took out my frustrations on the guy…He did try to attack us. So…he got what was coming for him. I'll just go with that anyway…_She walked back to Killua and the still sleeping Rakku, stretching her muscles that protested against their sudden use. "And that's that." She smiled cheerfully, feeling much better, although still slightly guilty for the person she used as a kind of punching bag.

"Someone's feeling better." Killua chuckled. Shizu punched him playfully and plopped down on the ground again. "We should make our way back to the starting point soon." He leaned back against the tree lazily.

"Hm. I suppose. It beats my plan anyway." Shizu leaned back as well. "But, in the morning ok? We aren't tireless machines like you." Shizu closed her eyes again.

"Alright then, midget." Killua's voice was slightly muffled to Shizu's drifting mind.

"Good night, old man…" She muttered before sinking into the realm of sleep once again.

* * *

_A huge fog obscures my view as I plunge through these depths. I'm reaching desperately for something…but what? Flashes of pain course through my body, seeming almost familiar. But the feeling effectively stops my attempt forward. A sudden force pushes me into an endlessly deep ocean. In the ocean, the pain disappears. Yet, I feel like I'm unable to find something important…The coherent thought is washed aside by a stream of memories._

* * *

_ "Ok, I've got everything packed." I was triumphant. "Hopefully the fifth time's the charm…" _To be quite honest,I'm just glad that I'm wearing comfortable clothing that wasn't a dress for once…_I poked my head out the hallway. I spotted the person guarding my door and aimed carefully. To my relief, I managed to knock him unconscious, allowing me to slip out and attempt another escape. I ran about the maze like house, focusing carefully on the guards and the map in my mind. _I make another right here and…_I turned the corner to come face to face with two bright green eyes that were definitely _not _human. _

_ A warning growl stopped me in my tracks. A large black panther watched me warily, ready to pounce at any moment. _He, I think it's a boy anyway, seems kind of lost…_"Are you trying to get out of here?" The panther stopped its growls, as if it understood. "We could help each other. I'm trying to get out too." I still didn't dare move a muscle in front of the large cat. It stood there, seeming to contemplate my suggestion. "You're strong and fast, and I know how to get out. What do you say?" My heart pounded along with the seconds that ticked by. The panther gave what was certainly a nod. "Ok, um you're a guy cat right?" It twitched its tail in amusement. _I'll take that as a yes…_"I need to call you something too…How about Rakku?" The panther gave the impression that it didn't care what it was going to be called. I hopped onto its back nervously, but Rakku didn't harm me. He ran off at an incredible pace with me giving him the directions to the freedom that we both wanted. The front door came into view and Rakku bounded past the guards and crashed into the door. The wood was no match for the large cat and burst open, letting in a rush of fresh, cold air. Rakku didn't stop running until he was too tired to keep running and a long distance away from the house._

_ "Where are you going to go now?" I slapped a hand across my mouth, realizing that I had just thought aloud. Rakku stared at me tiredly, but looked down with a kind of lost expression. "Oh…" I tapped my finger on my chin thoughtfully. "If…that's the case, why don't you keep travelling with me? You know, until you find something you want to do yourself." I broke out of my thoughts. "Only if you want to that is." I hastily added with a frantic gesture. Rakku looked at me with amusement. He gave a slight nod and laid down to curl up for a nap. _Now why can't talking to people be this easy?_ I sat down next to him waited for dawn to arrive._

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**That's another chapter done! Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go collapse on the ground or something. Jet lag is the worst lag.**

**Thanks to...**

**mittensx7768, Lunagorn, and Kuro-kyuuto for following**

**mittensx7768, Lunagorn, Kuro-kyuuto, and Aria868 for favoriting**

**Lunagorn, Kuro-kyuuto, and BLT for reviewing (I should have mentioned it by this point, but all of your reviews mean a lot to me :) )**


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